Charles  Sealsfield 

Ethnic  Elements  and  National  Problems 
in  his  Works. 

By 

Br UlNHARD  ALEXANDER  UHLENDORF 
A.  B.  Washington  University  1915 
M.  A.  Washington  University  1916 


Thesis  submitted  in  partial  fulfillment  of  the  Require- 
ments for  the  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  in 
German  in  the  Graduate  School  of  the 
University  of  Illinois,  1920. 


Chicago,  lUinois 
1922. 


i  f  iX        ^ 


^^j^/f/QT), 


Charles  Sealsfield 

Ethnic  Elements  and  National  Problems 
in  his  Works.      . 

By      \  .  //',  ;,.;;•'    ^  '••: 

BERNHARD  ALEXANDERY^HLENDORF 
A.  B.  Washington  UnivemTy  1915 
M.  A.  Washington  University  1916 


Thesis  submitted  in  partial  fulfillment  of  the  Require- 
ments for  the  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  in 
German  in  the  Graduate  School  of  the 
University  of  Illinois,  1920. 


Chicago,   Illinois 
1922. 


\^ 


A  1  ll 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Pa"c 

PREFACE  VII 

INTRODUCTION  1 

THE  WRITER  AND  HIS  WORKS 7 

PART   I:    POLITICAL,   ECONOMIC   AND   SOCIAL   CON- 
DITIONS' IN   AMERICA 35 

CHAPTER    I:    COLONIZATION 35 

II  RELATION  OF  INDIANS  TO  THE  WHITE  RACE    46 

III  GREAT  HISTORICAL  EVENTS 56 

Revolutionary  War 56 

Louisiana    Purchase 60 

Second  W^ar  with  England 62 

Texas    Revolution 63 

Three    Great    Statesmen 65 

IV  LIBERTY   AND   EQUALITY 68 

V  GENERAL    RETROGRESSION _..    94 

Politics    95 

A   New   Economic   Force 105 

Social    Life 1 13 

PART    II :    NATIONAL    TYPES 122 

CHAPTER    I    INTRODUCTION 122 

II  KENTUCKIANS  129 

Ralph    Doughby 134 

III  BACKWOODS   SETTLERS 139 

Nathan,   the   Squatter  Regulator 142 

Squire   Copeland   and   the   Alcalde 158 

The  Trapper  and   Desperado 160 

IV  THE  FRENCH   ELEMENT   AND  THE 

AMERICAN    PLANTER   IN    LOUISIANA 167 

V  NEGROES    AND    SLAVERY 185 

VI  THE   GERMAN    ELEMENT 201 

VII  NEW  YORK  AND  NEW  ENGLAND  TYPES 212 

NATIONAL  CHARACTER 224 

BIBLIOGRAPHY   232 


V 


PREFACE. 

Little  appears  to  be  known  in  this  country  of  the  fact  that 
the  gigantic  modern  epic  as  it  was  enacted  in  the  settlement 
of  this  continent,  in  the  founding  of  our  democratic  state  and 
the  development  of  a  new  composite  nationality,  combining 
the  characteristics  of  various  ethnic  elements  and  civilizations, 
had  found  a  rhapsodist  of  extraordinary  powers  here  among 
the  distinguished  German  settlers  during  the  third  and  fourth 
decades  of  the  last  century.  It  seemed  deserving  of  the  effort, 
therefore,  to  inquire  into  the  spirit  in  which  our  romancer, 
known  under  the  pseudonym  Charles  Sealsheld,  had  conceived 
this  epic  and  to  make  a  special  study  of  how  the  racial  con- 
stituents of  the  growing  American  nationality,  as  well  as  the 
questions  connected  with  their  amalgamation  into  a  body 
politic,  unfolded  themselves  before  his  keen  and  observing  eye. 
To  what  extent  the  character  of  the  American  democracy  and 
civilization  of  the  present  time  still  agrees  with  the  democratic 
ideal  that  Sealsfield  beheld  and  glorified  in  his  novels  the 
reader  of  this  monograph  will  determine  for  himself. 

A  study  such  as  is  here  presented,  moreover,  appears  to 
be  timely  especially  now  in  consideration  of  the  revived  in- 
terest in  Sealsfield  indicated  by  the  recent  translation  into 
English  of  one  of  his  early  political  pamphlets,  as  well  as  by 
the  publication  in  Germany  of  new  editions  of  several  of  his 
romances.  This  revival  of  interest  in  vSealsfield,  the  prophet 
of  German  democracy,  is  doubtless  due  to  the  recent  political 
upheaval  in  Germany  as  much  as  was  the  decline  of  his  con- 
temporary popularity  after  the  failure  of  the  revolution  of 
1848. 

The  writer's  interest  in  Charles  Sealsfield  was  first  awak- 
ened by  Professor  Otto  Heller  of  Washington  University  who 
at  that  time  v/as  planning  a  critical  edition  of  the  works  of  the 
famous  German-American  novelist.  It  is,  however,  to  the 
profound  historical  and  philosophical  insight  of  Professor 
Julius  Goebel   into  the  many  literary,  historical  and  cultural 

VII 


problems  contained  in  the  works  of  our  romancer  that  the 
author  of  the  present  monograph  owes  his  chief  inspiration. 
P^or  the  benefits  derived  from  his  teaching  and  guidance  and 
for  the  many  valuable  suggestions  and  criticisms  freely  given, 
the  writer  wishes  to  express  his  sincere  gratitude.  He  also 
desires  to  acknowledge  gratefully  the  interest  shown  by  Pro- 
fessors C.  W.  Alvord  and  O.  E.  Lessing  in  the  progress  of 
this  study  and  the  unfailing  assistance  given  him  by  his  wife. 

Urbana,  111.,  July  4,  1922.  B.  A.  U. 


VIII 


IXTRODUCTION. 

Although  the  author  whose  works  are  the  subject  of  the 
following  discussion,  is  listed  among  the  notable  German 
romancers  of  the  nineteenth  century  in  all  histories  of  modem 
German  literature,  comparatively  little  has  been  done  in  the 
way  of  a  scientific  study  of  the  man  and  his  productions.  This 
is  all  the  more  remarkable  in  view  of  the  sensation  his  first 
appearance  caused  in  contemporary  literary  criticism,  and 
especially  in  view  of  the  romantic  interest  which  he  attracted 
by  his  early  anonymity,  by  the  subse([uent  adoption  of  an  Eng- 
lish pseudonym,  and  finally  by  the  posthumous  disclosure  of 
his  identity.  The  neglect  with  which  he  has  been  treated  by 
literary  investigators  is  to  be  explained,  however,  largely  by 
the  fact  that  the  necessary  source  material  and  other  means 
of  research  are  in  his  case  not  accessible  to  the  German 
student,  while  in  this  country  only  a  few  scholars  have  recog- 
nized the  fact  that  Sealsfield's  works  form  a  part  also  of  Amer- 
ican literature.  What  Fricdrich  Kapp,  in  a  noteworthy  essay 
on  German-American  interrelations/  said  forty  years  ago  is 
still  true  today :  no  American  history  of  literature  mentions 
him  even  by  name.^ 

1  Kapp,  Friedrich,  Dcittsch-amerikonischc  W  cclisclbaflehnngcn. 
Deutsche  Rundschau.    Berlin,  1880,  v.  XXV,  pp.  88-123. 

2  The  brief  notice  in  The  Cambridge  History  of  American  Litera- 
ture (v.  I,  p.  325)  which  lists  him  among  the  Travelers  and  Observers, 
1763-1846,  and  merely  mentions  him  as  a  follower  of  Cooper  only  em- 
phasizes Kapp's  assertion.  Nor  can  the  half  page  devoted  to  Sealsficld 
in  V.  IV,  (p.  579)  be  considered  a  treatment  adequate  to  his  literary 
importance. 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

Owing  to  their  unacquaintance  with  American  conditions 
and  American  history  the  early  critics  of  Sealsfield  could  of 
necessity  judge  him  only  according  to  traditional  literary 
standards. 

The  first  attempt  at  a  more  adeciuate  aj^preciation  of  the 
literary  character  of  Sealsfield's  works  from  the  point  of  view 
of  esthetics  and  the  history  of  civilization,  was  made  by  Rudolf 
Gottschall  in  Die  deutsche  Nationallitteratur  des  icj.  Jahrhun- 
derts,  Breslau,  1854.  His  discussion  of  the  novelist,  which  in 
later  editions  was  revised  and  enlarged,  still  remains  by  far 
the  best  estimate  of  his  work  gi\en  in  the  current  histories  of 
niodern  German  literature.  Shortly  after  Sealsfield's  death, 
which  called  forth  numerous  necrologies, ■■  Gottschall  published 
a  separate  essay "^  on  our  author,  making  a  careful  and  more 
detailed  analysis  of  his  works  and  adding  what  was  then  avail- 
able of  biographical  material.  As  a  literary  portrait  of  Seals- 
held  this  essay  is  still  unsurpassed.  Gottschall  was  the  first 
to  inquire  into  the  poet's  conception  of  the  art  of  fiction  as 
embodied  in  his  autobiographical  sketch,  written  for  Brock- 
haus'  Conversationslexicon,  and  in  the  various  prefaces  to  his 
novels.  MoreoN'er,  he  was  the  first  to  appreciate  the  true  his- 
torical significance  of  Sealsfield's  romances  and  to  interpret 
correctly  the  racial  and  ethnic  problems  which  they  attempt 
to  solve. 

In  1875  Leo  Smolle  published  a  monograph  (Sealsfield: 
Biographisch-Viterarisches  Charakterhlld)  containing  some  new 
and  important  biographical  data,  which  the  author  had  ob- 
tained from  Sealsfield's  brother,  Joseph  Postl.     As  a  literary 

3  Kertbeny,  K.  M.,  Brinucrungcn  an  Charles  Sealsfield,  Briissel, 
1864.  Hartmann,  Alfred,  Der  deutsch-amerikaiiischc  Romaniiker,  Gar- 
ienlatdye,  1864,  No.  4,  pp.  53-55;  Bin  aufgeklartcs  Literaturgeheimnis, 
ibid.,  1865,  No.  6,  pp.  94-95.  Meyer,  Elisc,  Der  Diehter  heider  Hemi- 
sphdrcn,  Daheim,  1865,  p.  295  fif.  Hemmann,  Fr.,  Bhvas  iiher  Cherries 
Sealsfield,  Gecjemi'art,  No.  36,  1878,  pp.  149-157;  Brinnerungen  an 
Charles  Sealsfield,  Nord  und  Sikl,  Sept.  1879;  Sealsfield-Posii,  ibid., 
1889,  V.  L,  pp.  337-352. 

4  Charles  Sealsfield.  Bin  literarisches  Portrdi,  Unsere  Zeit,  n.  s. 
V.  I,  pp.  241-266.  Reprinted  in  the  author's  Portrdts  iind  Studien,  Leip- 
zig, 1876. 


iNTRODUCTIOJSf 

criticism,  however,   this  study   cannot  compare  with  that  of 
Gottschall. 

It  was  not  until  1879  that  the  first  scientific  attempt  was 
made  to  throw  more  Hght  upon  Sealsfield's  Hfe.  This  was 
done  by  Victor  Hamburger  in  his  booklet  Sealsfield-Postl;  bis- 
her  imverbff entlichte  Brief e  imd  Mitteilungen  zu  seiner  Bio- 
graphie,  Wien,  1879.  According  to  the  preface  the  author  had 
obtained  records  bearing  upon  Sealsfield's  clerical  career,  and 
had  also  made  a  careful  study  of  his  descriptions  of  travel  as 
far  as  they  threw  light  on  the  novelist's  life.  The  material 
thus  collected  was  carefully  sifted  and  critically  examined  with 
the  result  that  the  biographical  sketch,  comprising  the  first 
forty-seven  pages  and  some  valuable  annotations  on  pages  146- 
149  of  the  book,  is  a  most  creditable  contribution  to  our  knowl- 
edge of  Sealsfield's  life.  It  is,  moreover,  written  with  sym- 
pathetic spirit  and  in  excellent  literary  form.  Appended  to  the 
sketch  are  the  autobiographic  outline  in  the  form  of  a  letter 
to  Brockhaus,  thirteen  letters  to  Freiherr  J.  F.  von  Cotta,  the 
publisher  of  his  first  book,  and  fifteen  letters  to  Heinrich  Er- 
hard,  manager  of  J.  B.  Metzler,  bookdealer,  the  publisher  of 
the  author's  Collected  Works. 

To  none  of  the  critics  mentioned  thus  far  had  it  occurred 
that  a  true  understanding  and  appreciation  of  Sealfield's  pecu- 
liar literary  character  was  possible  only  by  viewing  him  in  the 
light  of  a  German-American  writer.  This  point  of  view  was 
emphasized  first  by  Friedrich  Kapp,  the  eminent  historian  and 
author  of  the  Geschichte  der  Deiitschen  im  Staate  New  York, 
in  the  essay  already  mentioned,  in  which  he  reviews  and  supple- 
ments Gustav  Korner's  excellent  book  Das  deutsche  Element 
in  den  Vereinigten  Staaten.  While  Kapp's  brief  discussion  of 
Sealsfield  does  not  claim  to  advance  new  results  of  investiga- 
tion, it  points  out  how  on  American  soil  he  became  the  greatest 
"painter  of  customs  and  nationalities"  in  German  literature, 
the  charm  of  whose  romances  consists  in  the  glorification  of 
the  genesis  of  society  and  the  state,  illustrated  by  the  concrete 
example  of  the  growth  of  American  nationality. 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

The  distinction  of  having  been  the  first  in  this  country  to 
make  a  special  study  of  Sealsfield  and  his  works,  belongs  to 
Professor  A.  B.  Faust.  His  Doctor's  dissertation  (Johns  Hop- 
kins University,  1892)  entitled  Charles  Sealsfield  (Carl  Postl)  ; 
Materials  for  a  Biography;  a  Study  of  his  Style;  his  Influence 
upon  American  Literature,  produced  some  new  biographical 
material,  classified  and  discussed  Sealsfield's  use  of  words,  syn- 
tax and  general  style,  and  attempted  to  assign  to  him  a  position 
in  American  literature  by  tracing  the  influence  he  exerted  on 
some  of  his  American  imitators  and  plagiarists. 

In  1894  Faust  printed  a  series  of  newly  discovered  letters 
of  Sealsfield,^  which  shed  welcome  light  on  the  last  twenty 
years  of  his  life,  and  finally,  in  1897,  he  published  a  biography 
of  the  romancer  under  the  title,  Charles  Sealsfield  (Carl  Postl) , 
der  Dichter  heider  Hemisph'dren.  Sein  Lehen  und  seine  Werke, 
Weimar,  1897.  The  aim  of  Faust's  book,  which  is  based  on 
sources  then  available  as  well  as  on  material  gathered  in  Europe 
and  in  this  country,  is  stated  in  the  preface  as  follows :  **The 
attempt  is  made  in  the  introduction  to  demonstrate  how  emi- 
nent a  place  in  the  literature  of  both  hemispheres  the  poet  may 
claim.  Since  Sealsfield  influenced  the  modern  German  novel 
especially  in  the  direction  of  realism  this  treatise  on  the  writer's 
life  and  works  may  be  considered  a  contribution  to  the  history 
of  the  German  novel." 

The  principal  value  of  Faust's  painstaking  work  is  to  be 
found  in  the  biographical  portions  of  the  book  and  in  the  dis- 
cussion of  literary  relations,  rather  than  in  the  explanation  of 
the  specific  qualities  and  of  the  ethnographic  and  historical 
significance  of  Sealsfield's  romances. 

A  number  of  important  points  which  Faust  had  over- 
looked in  his  biography  of  the  poet  were  set  forth  in  a  review 
of  the  book  by  Professor  Julius  OoGht\(  Americana-Germanic  a, 
1897,  V.  I,  pt.  Ill,  pp.  94-103).  To  interpret  Sealsfield  cor- 
rectly, the  reviewer  maintains,  it  is  necessary  to  keep  in  mind 
his  outspoken  Americanism,  and  to  explain  from  this  point  of 

^Publications  of  the  Modern  Language  Association  of  America, 
1894,  V.  IX,  pp.  342-402. 


INTRODUCTION 

view  his  poetic  development  as  well  as  the  avowed  purpose 
of  his  romances  to  foster  the  growth  of  democracy  in  Germany 
by  depicting  the  marvelous  evolution  of  democratic  nationality 
and  civilization  in  the  United  States. 

In  1907  Die  Gesellschaft  ziir  Fbrderung  deutscher  Wissen- 
schaft,  Kunst  und  IJteratur  in  Bohmen  appointed  Professor 
Otto  Heller  of  Washington  University  to  act  as  chief  editor 
of  a  complete  critical  edition  of  Sealsfield's  works  to  be  in- 
corporated in  the  Bibliothek  Deutscher  Schriftsteller  aus  Boh- 
men. As  a  groundw^ork  for  this  proposed  edition  he  brought 
together  the  most "  complete  extant  collection  of  Sealsfield's 
writings  in  their  several  editions,  as  also  an  extensive  biblio- 
graphy. An  article  in  Buphorion  (1907,  v.  XIV,  pp.  718-724) 
corrected  a  bibliographical  error  due  to  a  misstatement  in 
Sealsfield's  autobiography  concerning  his  connection  with  the 
Courier  des  Etats-Unis.  In  1908  (Modern  Language  Review, 
V.  Ill,  pp.  360-365)  Heller  published  additional  bibliographical 
notes  on  Hie  United  States,  on  Tokeah,  or  The  White  Rose, 
on  Morton,  and  on  Christopherus  Bdrenhduter.  Material  of 
bibliographical  importance  is  also  contained  in  his  note  to  an 
unpublished  letter"  of  Sealsfield.'  In  1910  he  pubUshed  a  sig- 
nificant article  on  Some  Sources  of  Sealsfield.^  Here  he  points 
to  a  story  which  probably  gave  Sealsfield  the  idea  for  his 
White  Rose  in  Tokeah,  and  refers  to  the  model  for  a  comical 
harangue  in  George  Howard  as  well  as  to  the  source  of  an 
episode  in  the  same  novel. ^  Christopherus  Bdrenhduter,  which 
had  until  then  been  considered  a  production  of  Sealsfield's  pen, 
was  shown  to  have  been  translated  from  The  Western  Monthly 
Review  of  1827.  Finally,  a  chapter  in  the  KajUtenbuch,  which 
Sealsfield  himself  mentions  as  not  being  his  own,  was  traced 
to  Samuel  Lover's  Legends  and  Stories  of  Ireland.  In  an 
article  entitled  Sealsfield-Funde,^^  Professor  Heller  presented 

^Buphorion,  v.  XVI,  pp.  516-517. 

'7  The  writer  has  obtained  several  references  from  Professor  Heller, 
for  which  he  wishes  to  express  his  sincere  gratitude. 

8  Modern  Philology,  1910,  v.  VII,  pp.  587-592. 

9  Cf .  Heller,  Modern  Language  Notes,  1908,  v.  XXIII,  pp.  172-173. 
'^^  German- American  Annals,  n.   s.   v.  VIII,  pp.  82-86;   v.  IX,  pp. 

3-30. 

_^_  5  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

the  results  of  an  investigation  into  Cotta's  journals.  He  found 
seven  contributions  written  by  Sealsfield,  part  of  which  were 
new  and  part  already  familiar  to  the  student  of  his  works. ^^ 
;\lthough  Professor  Heller  fully  appreciates  the  greatness  and 
literaiy  significance  of  Sealsfield,  as  is  evident  from  his  essay 
[)ublished  in  The  Bulletin  of  the  Washington  University  As- 
sociation of  1908  (v.  VI,  pp.  18-44),  his  chief  interest,  as  may 
be  seen  from  the  publications  cited  above,  is  that  of  the  biblio- 
grapher. 

A  recent  contribution  to  the  study  of  Sealsfield  was  also 
made  by  Professor  A.  Ravize  of  Bordeaux.  Verifying  a  state- 
ment in  Sealsfield's  autobiography  he  identified  five  short  stories 
in  the  Englishman's  Magazine  of  1831,^-  as  being  part  of  his 
works. 

The  two  most  recent  investigations  are  those  of  Thomp- 
sons^ and  Schultz.s^  The  former  attempts  to  show  that  our 
romancer,  at  least  in  one  novel,  drew  largely  upon  personal 
observation.  The  latter  treats  on  a  broad,  historical  basis  of 
Sealsfield's  colorful,  realistic  descriptions  of  exotic  nature. ^^ 

It  is  evident  from  the  foregoing  brief  survey  that  the 
greater  part  of  the  investigations  on  the  subject  under  dis- 
cussion are  of  a  biographical  and  bibliographical  nature. 

In  the  present  monograph  a  study  is  made  of  the  ethnic 
elements,  and  the  historical,  political,  and  social  conditions  as 
they  appear  in  Sealsfield's  descriptions  of  the  rise  of  American 
civilization,  society,  and  nationality. 

11  Preston  A.  Barba  seems  to  have  accidentally  come  across  a 
source  used  by  Sealsfield  in  his  Kajiitenhiich  entitled  A  Visit  to  Texas, 
New  York,  1834     Cf.  German-American  Annals,  n.  s.  v.  IX,  pp.  31-39. 

^'^Buphorion,  1909,  v.  XVJ,  pp.  102-116. 

13  Thompson,  Garrett  W.,  An  inquiry  into  the  sources  of  Charles 
Sealsfield's  novel  "Morton  oder  die  grosse  Tour,"  Univ.  of  Pa.  Diss. 
1910. 

1*  Schultz,  Paul,  Die  Schildernng  exotischer  Natur  im  deutschen 
Roman  mit  besonderer  Berilcksichtigunq  von  Charles  Sealsfield,  Miin- 
ster,  1913. 

1**  Cf.  Diez,  Max,  Ueher  die  Naturschildcrung  in  den  Romanen 
Sealsfields,  Washington  University  Studies,  1914,  pp.  184-226. 


LIFE  AND  WORKS 


THE  WRITER  AND  HIS  WORKS. 

In  Blackwood's  Edinburgh  Magazine  of  1845^  there  is  an 
excerpt  in  English  translation  from  an  unnamed  German 
writer  under  the  title  "German-American  Romances/'  The 
translator,  although  he  withholds  his  name,  is  undoubtedly 
Frederick  Hardman.-  In  an  introductory  paragraph  he  ex- 
presses his  views  on  German  narrative  literature  of  his  day 
in  these  words :  "The  most  obvious  defect  of  the  German 
school  of  romance  is  the  universal  tendency,  and  the  conse- 
quent absence  of  the  characteristic  and  the  true  in  their  de- 
scriptions both  of  human  and  of  external  nature  .  .  .  Shut  up 
in  their  studies  with  no  companions  but  their  books  and  their 
meerschaums,  and  viewing  the  external  world  through  the 
•  oophole  of  retreat,  often  anxious  too,  to  advance  and  illus- 
trate some  pet  theory  of  their  own,  their  writings  smell  horrib- 
ly of  the  lamps,  and  are  long-winded,  tedious  and  unnatural. 
.  .  .  However,  a  new  and  radiant  star  has  arisen  in  the  cloudy 
firmament  of  German  fiction — a  novel  writer,  whose  works  ex- 
hibit a  striking  example  of  entire  exemption  from  the  defects 
so  evident  in  the  great  majority  of  his  brethren.  This  is  a 
nameless  personage,  known  among  German  reviewers  as  Der 
Unbekanntc,  or  the  Unknown,  and  who  has  broken  ground 
that  no  German  writer  had  hitherto  ventured  upon." 

In  fact,  like  Walter  Scott,  this  novelist  was  for  a  long 
time  spoken  of  only  as  the  "Great  Unknown,"  until,  in  1845, 
he  published  his  Collected  Works  under  the  name  of  Charles 
Sealsfield.  But  even  then  the  reading  public  knew  little  more, 
until  shortly  after  his  death,  in  1864,  he  was  identified  with  a 
fugitive  Germian- Moravian  monk,  who  had  long  been  forgotten. 
Although  his  last  will  was  also  signed  with  his  nom  de  plume, 
it  gave  a  clue  insofar  as  it  bequeathed  the  bulk  of  his  earthly 
possessions  to  the  family  of  one  Anton  Postl,  resident  of  Pop- 
pitz,  Moravia,  with  the  special  clause  that  in  case  one  of  his 

1  B.  n.  M.,  V.  LVII,  pp.  251-258. 

-Frederick  Hardman  (1814-1874)  was  an  English  novelist  and 
journalist,  who  wrote  much  for  Blackwood's  and  for  the  Times. 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

children  were  dead,  "or  otherwise  lost  sight  of,"  his  share 
should  be  divided  amongst  those  surviving.  This  provision 
naturally  led  to  the  discovery  of  the  real  name  of  the  queer 
testator.  And  when  the  brother  of  the  deceased  arrived  at 
Solothurn,  Switzerland,  where  the  author  had  died,  there  could 
no  longer  be  any  doubt  as  to  the  surmised  identity,  so  close 
was  the  resemblance. 

Karl  Anton  Postl  was  born  March  3,  1793,  as  the  first  son 
of  a  well-to-do  German-Moravian  farmer  and  wine-grower. 
In  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  his  mother,  a  devout  Catholic, 
the  boy  was  destined  to  the  service  of  the  church.  After 
finishing  the  Untergymnasium  at  Znaim,  he  proceeded  to 
Prague,  where  he  was  matriculated  in  the  college  conducted 
by  the  Knights  of  the  Cross,  a  religious  order  whose  head 
master  resided  in  the  Kreuzherrenstift.  Five  years  later,  in 
1813,  he  entered  the  cloister  as  a  novice.  Having  been  ordained 
a  priest  the  following  year,  he  was,  because  of  his  unusual 
talents,  named  adjunct-secretary  in  1815,  and  full  secretary 
after  but  one  year  of  service. 

The  gloomy  cloister  buildings  could  have  little  attraction 
for  a  cultured,  liberal  minded  young  man,  conversant  in  sever- 
al languages.  Hence,  the  discontented  ecclesiastic,  although 
he  had  formed  many  social  connections  in  and  about  the  Bo- 
hemian capital,  some,  in  fact,  with  Austria's  feudal  aristocracy, 
was  most  unhappy.  He  longed  for  a  life  where  he  might 
satisfy  his  glowing  ambitions.  An  opportunity  soon  offered 
itself.  In  1823  Postl  accompanied  an  aihng  brother  to  Karls^ 
bad,  whence  he  left  without  permission  of  his  superiors  for 
Vienna.  Here  he  made  an  attempt  to  obtain  the  position  of  a 
private  secretary  in  the  service  of  the  government.  Although 
recommended  to  Count  Saurau  by  patrons  in  Prague,  he  made 
an  unfavorable  impression  upon  the  official,  and  failed  on  that 
account.  Seeing  his  plans  thus  frustrated,  he  found  himself 
in  a  most  embarrassing  position.  One  thing,  however,  was 
certain :  he  could  not  return  into  the  confines  of  the  Kreuz- 
herrenstift. After  long  and  painful  inner  struggles  he  decided 
to  flee  to  Switzerland,  unmindful  of  the  pursuit  by  the  police. 


LIFE  AND  WORKS 

which  was  carried  on  w^ith  great  energy  as  the  pohce  records 
of  Prague  and  Vienna  show.  He  travelled  through  Switzer- 
land and  France,  and  finally  embarked  at  Havre  for  the  United 
States.,  Here  he  hoped  to  find  the  liberty  which  he  knew  did 
not  obtain  in  Europe,  where  the  crafty  and  powerful  Metter- 
nich  ruled  with  a  rod  of  iron,  not  only  over  Austria,  but  over 
the  neighboring  states  as  well. 

The  fugitive  monk  had  disappeared  so  completely  that 
even  his  immediate  family  lost  all  trace  of  him.  In  the  early 
thirties,  however,  there  appeared  several  anonymous  novels 
which  startled  both  readers  and  critics ;  these  stories  were  so 
new,  so  original,  so  altogether  different  from  what  the  public 
had  been  accustomed  to  read,  that  their  author  was  called 
"The  Great  Unknown."  He  preserved  his  anonymity  also  in 
his  subsequent  and  equally  successful  novels  and  sketches,  until 
in  1845,  he  published  the  first  edition  of  his  Collected  Works 
under  the  name  of  Charles  vSealsfield.  This  name  furnished, 
of  course,  no  clue  to  the  author's  identity.  He  had  been  care- 
ful, moreover,  to  omit  from  his  writings  anything  that  could  be 
interpreted  as  a  reference  to  his  personality,  nor  was  it  possible 
to  determine  from  internal  evidence  whether  he  was  of  German 
or  American  origin.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  many  contemporary 
critics  believed  him  to  be  an  American  born  of  German 
parents.^ 

Why  Sealsfield  was  so  careful  to  conceal  his  true  name 
will  perhaps  never  be  satisfactorily  answered.  Whether  it  was 
due  to  a  morbid  fear  of  retributive  justice,  or  to  his  secretive 
and  slightly  eccentric  nature,  is  difficult  to  decide,  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  in  his  works  he  appears  as  a  fearless  champion 
of  truth. 

Postl  seems  to  have  landed  in  New  Orleans  in  the  fall  of 
1823.  After  a  short  stay  there,  he  travelled  about  in  the  south- 
ern states,  including  the  Mexican  province  of  Texas,  and  in  all 
probability,  Mexico  proper.  He  then  journeyed  through  Ken- 
tucky, Ohio,  and  Pennsylvania  to  New  York  and  New  Eng- 

s  Taillandier,  Le  Romancier  dc  la  Democratic  Amcricainc. 
9  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

land,  returning  to  the  Southwest  again  in  1824.  The  return 
trip  lasted  about  one  year.  During  this  time  he  studied  the 
American  people  and  its  various  racial  constituents  with  the 
penetrating  eye  of  the  historian  and  the  ethnographer.  The 
result  of  these  studies  was  a  descriptive  work,  published  in 
1827  by  the  celebrated  firm  of  J.  G.  Cotta,  whose  head  was  at 
that  time  Johann  Friedrich  Cotta,  a  promoter  of  liberal  ideas^ 
and  the  enthusiastic  supporter  of  "Young  Germany."  (Seals- 
field  contributed  later  to  the  Morgenblatt,  edited  by  this  firm.) 
The  book  appeared  under  the  name  of  C.  Sidons,  Burger  der 
Vereinigten  Staaten  von  Nordamerika,  and  bears  the  title  Die 
Vereinigten  Staaten  von  Nordamerika  nach  ihren  politischen, 
religiosen  und  gesellschaftlichen  V erhdltnissen  hetrachtet.  The 
following  year  an  English  translation  of  this  work  was  pub- 
lished in  two  separate  volumes  and  in  the  guise  of  different 
titles.  The  first  of  these  volumes  was  a  partial,  rather  free 
translation  and  to  a  certain  extent  a  revision  of  the  first  part  of 
the  original,  and  appeared  anonymously  under  the  title  The 
United  States  of  North  America  as  They  Are,  R.  Marshall  of 
London  being  the  publisher.  The  second  volume,  for  the  most 
part  a  translation  of  the  remainder  of  the  German  original, 
bears  the  title  The  Americans  as  They  Are,  Described  in  a 
Tour  Through  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  By  the  author  of 
Austria,  as  it  is.  It  was  published  by  Hurst,  Chance  and  Co., 
also  of  London.'' 

Both  books  are  discussed  in  the  North  American  Review 
of  1828.  The  fact  that  Sealsfield  strongly  attacked  John 
Quincy  Adams  and  did  not  conceal  his  admiration  for  Andrew 
Jackson  in  the  first  volume,  may  account  for  the  contemptuous 
treatment  by  the  reviewer,  who  summed  up  his  opinion  thus  : 
"Its  character  may  be  given  in  the  word  Vile  trash'.'*  The 
second  volunie,  however,  was  very  highly  spoken  of.  The 
critic  remarks  :  "We  have  not  seen  a  more  correct  view  of 

■*  Proclss,   Johannes,   Das  junge   Dciitschland,  chapter   U.   „Johann 
Friedrich  Cotta  und  Borne." 

•^  Heller,  Otto,  Bibliographical  Notes  on  Charles  Sealsfield.   Modem 
Language  Review,  v.  IH,  pp.  360-362. 

_____   10  


LIFE  AND  WORKS 

'western  people'  and  also  of  Mississippi  and  Louisiana,  than 
is  here  presented." 

Sealsfield's  stay  in  Europe  lasted  approximately  two  years. 
His  letters  to  Cotta  show  that  he  was  delayed  chiefly  by  his 
lack  of  funds.  It  was  then,  in  a  moment  of  financial  embarrass- 
ment and  utter  despair,  that  he  wrote  to  Prince  Metter- 
nich  asking  for  a  position  in  the  Austrian  secret  service,  a  step 
which  must  be  regretted  as  unworthy  of  a  man  of  his  sub- 
sequent literary  eminence.  Deeply  chagrined  by  the  refusal  of 
his  request,  he  took  pains  now  to  avenge  himself  by  a  denounce- 
ment of  Metternich's  policy  in  the  shape  of  a  book  entitled 
Austria  as  it  is,  or  Sketches  of  Continental  Courts,  by  an  Eye- 
witness. (London,  Hurst,  Chance  &  Co..  1828.)  The  sale 
of  this  book  was  forbidden  by  the  Gennan  and  Austrian  author- 
ities,^ but  finally  came  to  light  again  in  1834,  under  the  title 
Seufzer  aus  Oesterreich  und  seinen  Provinzen^  which  was  a 
translation  from  the  mutilated  French  version,  VAutriche  telle 
qu'elle  est.^ 

In  June,  1827,  Sealsfield  returned  to  America.  After  a 
short  stay  at  Philadelphia  he  retired  to  Kittanning,  Pennsyl- 
vania, where  he  composed  his  first  novel.  Tokeah,  or  the  White 
Rose,  Philadelphia,  1829.  Although  the  tale  showed  the  defects 
of  the  literary  apprentice  who  takes  up  a  favored  theme  such 
as  the  Indian  story  was  at  the  time,  it  attained  considerable 
popularity.  There  are  extant  at  least  four  English  and  six 
German  editions  or  versions.  Some  of  the  latter  are  based  on 
the  author's  later  revision  of  the  work,  and  have  been  printed 
in  the  form  of  juvenile  fiction  until  quite  recently.''  The 
author's  revision  of  the  novel  just  mentioned  appeared  in  1833 
under  the  title  Der  Legitime  und  die  Repuhlikaner.     Bine  Ge- 

•'•  For  attempts  toward  suppression,  see  Weiss,  Aup:ust,  Allgemeine 
Zeitung.  Beilage  No.  270  (November  22,  1895). 

"^  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  recently  the  original  was  translated 
into  German,  Oesterreich  ivie  cs  isf,  odcr  Shicccu  von  Fiirstenhofen 
des  Kontinents.     Wien,  1919. 

8  Cf.  Arnold,  Robert  F.  Ziir  Bihlionraphie  Charles  Sealsfields. 
Studien  ztir  vergleichenden  Literaturgeschichte ,  1901,  v.  I,  pp.  228-233. 

^Heller,  Bibliographical  Notes,  pp.  362-363. 

11   


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

schichte  aus  dem  letzten  amerikanisch-englischen  Kriege.  Com- 
paring it  with  the  original  version  we  notice  how  the  author 
has  tried  to  remedy  the  defects  of  the  earher  story.  The  trite 
Indian  tale  has  grown  into  an  ethnographic  and  historical 
picture  of  remarkable  dimensions,  foreshadowing  the  master- 
ful art  which  we  admire  in  Sealsfield's  later  works.  While 
Chateaubriand  depicts  the  Indians  as  the  sons  of  undefiled, 
ideal  nature  and  causes  the  reader  to  look  with  envy  and  yearn- 
ing upon  the  primitive  simplicity  of  their  life,  while  Cooper 
has  us  lament  the  pathetic  fate  of  his  Mohicans,  Sealsfield,  no 
less  a  sympathizer  with  this  unfortunate  race,  doomed  to 
gradual  extinction,  nevertheless  convinces  the  reader  that  a 
nomad  and  huntsman  must  of  necessity  make  room  for  the 
more  enlightened  settler  and  commonwealth-builder.^°  The 
author  has  succeeded  in  making  us  spectators  of  a  drama  of 
race  struggles,  out  of  which  rises  the  civilization  of  a  new 
human  world — a  drama  of  history  in  which  the  destiny  of  the 
red  man  is  only  a  pathetic  episode. 

Late  in  1828  Sealsfield  made  another  trip  to  the  South- 
west and  to  Mexico,  and  probably  bought  and  worked  a  plan- 
tation with  the  moderate  fortune  he  had  accumulated.  He  was, 
however,  unsuccessful  in  this  undertaking,  and  quickly  lost  his 
investment.  In  1830  he  left  for  Europe,  and  from  1832  on  he 
lived  in  Switzerland,  except  for  several  trips  to  the  land  of  his 
adoption,  whither  he  was  called  by  business  interests.  About 
1858  he  bought  a  small  estate  near  Solothurn,  Switzerland, 
where  he  lived  a  very  retired  life  until  his  death.  May  26, 
1864.11 

10  Cf.  Schmidt,  Julian,  Geschichte  der  deutschen  Literatur,  v.  II, 
p.  272. 

11  Hamburger,  Victor,  Seahfield-Postl,  p.  36,  says  :  "  'Nichts  Neues 
von  driibenf,  were  his  last  audible  words.*  Thus  died  the  man,  whose 
cradle  stood  in  the  plain  farmhouse  on  the  rushing  Thaya,  who  deserted 
the  service  of  God,  over  whose  head  flamed  the  Cross  of  the  South, 
who  stayed  in  the  wigwams  of  redskins  and  in  the  palace  of  princes, 
whose  name  is  mentioned  among  the  best,  who  unrecognized  every- 
where, a  wandering  riddle,  found  an  eternal  resting  place  in  the  valley 
of  the  Aar  River  on  the  slopes  of  the  Jura  mountains." 

*  These  words  are  made  the  theme  of  a  poem  by  Caspar  Butz, 
Gedichte  eines  Deutsch-Amcrikaners.    Chicago,  1879,  pp.  H 7-1 18. 

12  


LIFE  AND  WORKS 

The  literary  activity  which  made  Charles  Sealsfield  fam- 
ous as  the  Great  Unknown,  falls  between  the  years  1834  and 
1843.  All  of  his  works  except  Der  Virey  und  die  Aristokraten 
and  Siiden  und  Norden  deal  with  the  American  people.  In 
Virey  (1834)  the  author  lays  bare  the  social  and  political 
causes  of  Mexico's  struggle  against  the  Spanish  yoke  in  1812, 
and  in  Siiden  und  Norden  (1842-43)  he  portrays  the  life  of 
the  young  Mexican  republic  in  its  various  aspects.  Again  we 
admire  his  handling  of  race  problems,  his  weird  fancy  and  the 
remarkable  realism  and  gorgeous  coloring  of  his  descriptions 
of  natural  sceneries. 

The  novels  which  treat  of  American  themes  exclusively 
appeared  in  rapid  succession  between  the  years  1834  and  1841. 
Most  of  these  works  were  published  at  first  under  various  col- 
lective titles,  which,  however,  were  partly  dropped  in  the 
author's  Collected  Works. ^^  They  will,  therefore,  be  quoted 
here  under  their  individual  titles :  Morton,  oder  die  grosse 
Tour;  George  Howards  Esq.  Brauffahrt ;  Ralph  Doughbys 
Esq.  Brautfahrt;  Pflanzerlehen  (including  Die  Farhigen^^) ; 
Nathan,  der  Squatter-Regulator ;  Das  Kajiitenbuch,  oder  Na- 
tionale  Charakteristiken.  Morton,  of  which  part  one  is  laid  in 
the  United  States,  part  two  in  England,  where  Morton  was 
sent  as  emissary  of  Stephen  Girard,  depicts  the  uncanny  power 
of  money  concentrated  in  the  hands  of  a  few,  which  at  that 
time  began  to  assume  a  dominant  influence  in  society  and 
politics.^*  That  Sealsfield,  with  the  divination  of  the  prophet, 
foresaw  the  danger  and  conflicts  concomitant  with  the  growth 
of  modern  capitalism  in  this  country,  as  well  as  in  Europe,  is 

12  There  are  two  editions  of  Gcsammelte  JVcrke,  one  in  18  vols., 
8mo.,  1844-1845,  and  one  in  15  vols.,  12mo.,  1845-1849,  both  published  by 
J.  B.  Metzler,  Stuttgart.  They  lack,  however,  his  political-descriptive 
works,  Christopherus  Bdrenhduter,  (a  ludicrous  sketch  appended  to  the 
editio  princeps  of  George  Howard),  Die  Wahlverzvandtschaften,  and  the 
12mo.  edition  lacks  also  Siiden  und  Norden.  Since  the  12mo.  edition 
has  had  the  larger  circulation,  it  was  used  in  this  study. 

13  Dig  Farbigen  being  a  vital  part  of  Pflan::erlehcn  will  not  be  con- 
sidered under  the  subheading,  but  as  belonging  to  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  II 
(pp.  163-384.) 

14  Thomson,  G.  W.,  Sources  of  Morton,  claims  that  Sealsfield  drew 
mostly  upon  personal  observation. 

13  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

evident  from  the  following  passage  in  the  preface  to  the  novel : 
"What  will  be  the  outcome  of  the  great  conflict  of  principles, 
or  rather  interests,  which  is  now  being  waged  with  so  much 
obstinacy,  is  a  question,  the  answer  to  which  does  not  belong 
to  the  realm  of  polite  literature ;  but  inasmuch  as  the  latter 
represents  social  life  in  all  its  shades  and  thus  becomes  an  agent 
in  the  formation  of  this  life,  it  is  its  business  indeed  to  consider 
the  peculiar  nature  of  this  new  power  (of  money)  which  seems 
to  be  destined  to  play  so  great  a  role  in  the  coming  revolution." 

The  five  novels  following  next  upon  Morton  form  a  cycle 
revolving  around  the  life  in  the  southwestern  states.  Here  the 
author  found  the  various  racial  elements  in  closer  juxtaposition 
than  anywhere  else  in  the  Union.  The  Creole  planter  and  the 
Acadian  huntsman  met  in  this  region  with  the  energetic 
pioneer,  who  through  dogged  perseverance  and  untold  priva- 
tions, conquered  the  wilderness.  Here  the  enlightened  Amer- 
ican strove  to  show  his  Creole  neighbor  how  to  alleviate  the 
evils  of  slavery.  In  this  section  of  the  frontier  the  Yankee 
peddler  was  encountered  cheating  and  "stuffing"  the  gullible 
backwoodsman.  Moreover,  since  all  these  stories  take  place  in 
1828,  the  year  when  two  new  political  parties  struggled  for  pre- 
dominance, and  the  most  extensive  electioneering  machinery 
was  intrcxluccd, — since  all  these  events  occurred  upon  a  soil 
where  the  descendants  of  French  aristocrats  championed  their 
monarchical  ideas  against  the  staunch  adherents  of  the 
"peoples'  candidate,"  the  author  finds  occasion  to  dwell  upon 
the  subject  of  national  and  civic  institutions,  the  love  of  which 
he  considers  the  all-embracing  tie  uniting  and  amalgamating 
the  polyglot  population. 

It  is  generally  agreed  that  Das  Kajutenbuch  is  the  author's 
masterpiece.  In  the  first  part,  bearing  the  special  title  Die 
Prairie  am  Jacinto,  and  containing  some  of  Sealsfield's  finest 
descriptions  of  nature,  he  depicts  frontier  life  in  the  Mexican 
province  of  Texas,  especially  that  of  the  desperado  type  so 
common  at  the  boundaries  of  civilization.  In  the  second  part 
the  hero,  a  criminal  saved  from  the  gallows,  fights  in  the 
battles  of  independence  against  Mexico.    The  story  then  takes 

14 


LIFE  AND  WORKS 

us  into  South  American  countries,  and  acquaints  us  with  the 
struggles  of  their  inhabitants  against  Spanish  supremacy. 

In  the  novel  Die  deulsch-ainerikanischen  Wahlverwandt- 
schaften  Sealsfield  relinquished  for  a  time  his  preference  for 
the  frontier  in  order  to  give  his  attention  to  another  phase  in 
the  development  of  the  process  of  American  civilization,  a 
process  which  in  the  title  he  designated  as  "the  elective  affin- 
ity." This  technical  term  borrowed  from  chemistry,  which 
Goethe  had  used  as  a  symbol  in  his  Die  Wahlverwandschaften, 
to  describe  with  marvelous  art  the  secret,  inexplicable  attrac- 
tion of  sex  and  character,  is  applied  by  Sealsfield  to  the  inter- 
relations of  the  ethnic  elements  in  America,  of  which  the  Amer- 
ican and  German  are  to  him  the  most  conspicuous.  The  char- 
acters which  symbolize  the  process  of  blending  and  amalgam- 
ating of  the  two  civilizations  are  chosen  from  the  sphere  of 
so-called  refined  society,  which  affords  the  author  the  oppor- 
tunity of  depicting  types  and  environments  quite  different  from 
those  of  the  frontier  regions.  If  anywhere,  the  author  gives 
in  this  novel,  some  of  his  most  cherished  thoughts  and  personal 
experiences.  The  racial  unity  of  the  typical  American  and 
German,  who  were  then  the  predominant  ethnic  elements  of 
this  country,  was  to  him  a  fact  of  the  greatest  significance,  a 
fact  upon  which  he  based  his  frequently  expressed  hope  of  a 
retroaction  of  American  freedom  upon  the  political  conditions 
of  Germany. 

The  attempts  to  range  Sealsfield's  novels  under  accepted 
literary  categories  and  to  assign  to  them  their  proper  place  in 
the  history  of  modern  fiction  have,  from  the  time  of  their  first 
appearance,  been  many  and  \aried.  In  turn  they  have  been 
classified  as  novels  of  travel  and  of  adventure, ^^  or  as  exotic,^** 
historical^'   and  ethnogra])hic^'^  fiction.     While  some  of  these 

^^  Cf.   S'alzer,  Gcschichtc  dcr  dcutschen   Litcrntur,  p.   1770. 

lOGottschall,  Unsere  Zeit,  1865,  ser.  Ill,  v.  I,  p.  241.  Nationallitcra- 
iur,  7th  ed.,  v.  IV.,  p.  510.— Kummer,  Deutsche  Literaturgescfiichte,  p. 
284. — Robertson,  History  of  German  Literature,  p.  579. 

^7  Cf.  IJteratiirblatl,  1836,  where  Morton,  George  Howard  and 
Virey  are  reviewed  under  the  heading  "Historische  R o }n an e"—hauhe, 
Moderne  Charakteristiken,  v.  II,  pp.  250-251— Heller,  Charles  Sealsfield 

15  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

designations  may  apply  to  certain  features  of  the  stories,  none 
of  them  taken  alone,  is  expressive  of  their  essential  character. 

In  a  highly  interesting  and  suggestive  preface  to  the 
Lehenshilder  aiis  beiden  Hemisphdren  (1835),  now  printed  as 
a  preface  to  Morton,  as  well  as  in  his  short  autobiographical 
sketch  written  for  ^Y0ck\\2i\xs'  C onversationslexicon  in  1854,  the 
author  himself  defined  with  excellent  historical  insight  and 
critical  judgment,  his  position  in  regard  to  his  predecessors  and 
contemporaries,  and  at  the  same  time  stated  what  may  be 
called  his  theory  of  the  novel,  as  well  as  the  end  to  which  he 
aspired  in  his  romances. 

Novel  writing,  he  says,  was  previous  to  Walter  Scott,  an 
occupation  that  met  with  little  esteem.  Only  a  few  persons 
distinguished  by  genius,  philosophical  preparation  and  political 
or  social  position,  had  condescended  to  cultivate  this  branch  of 
literature.  Among  these  men  he  mentions  Goethe  as  the  fore- 
most of  German  novelists.  While  he  recognizes  the  beauties 
in  Wilhelm  Meister's  Lehrjahre,  he  is  also  aware  of  its  defects, 
which,  in  his  opinion,  consist  in  the  absence  of  the  truly  ethical 
and  patriotic  elements.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Sealsfield's 
criticism  of  Goethe's  alleged  egotism,  his  aristocratic  attitude, 
his  lack  of  patriotism,  and  his  moral  latitudinarianism,  agrees 
in  many  respects  with  the  views  of  ''Young  Germany"  and 
especially  with  those  of  Wolfgang  Menzel. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  somiC  of  the  critics  of  his  first 
novels  had  pointed  to  Chateaubriand  and  Cooper  as  his  models, 
Sealsfield  cleverly  refutes  the  insinuation  of  being  one  of  their 
imitators  by  introducing  a  few  well  chosen,  and  at  the  same 
time  trenchant  critical  remarks  on  his  supposed  models.  Refer- 
ring to  Chateaubriand's   famous   Indian   story  Atala    (1801), 

(Washington   University  Bulletin),  v.  VI,  p.  34,  "Historical  Novel  of 
the  Present." 

18  Cf.  Literarische  Zeitung,  1846,  col.  430 — Bartels,  Geschichte  der 
deutschen  Literatiir,  v.  H,  p.  279,  "master  of  the  transatlantic,  exotic, 
ethnographic  novel." — Biese,  Deutsche  Literaturgeschichte,  v.  III,  p.  114 
— Koenig,  Deutsche  Literaturgeschichte,  v.  II,  p.  413 — Kurz,  Geschichte 
der  deutschen  Literatur,  v.  IV,  p.  691 — Salzer,  Geschichte  der  deutschen 
Literatur,  p.  1770— Scherr,  Weltliteratur,  v.  II,  p.  299. 

16  


UFE  AND  WORKS 

and  especially  to  his  Natchez  (1826),  he  says  •}^  "I  confess  that 
my  former  opinion  of  Chateaubriand  was  not  a  very  favorable 
one.  The  extraordinary  exaggerations  of  which  he  makes  him- 
self guilty  at  the  expense  of  veracity  at  every  opportunity,  as 
for  example,  in  his  Natchez,  in  which  he  gives  inaccurate  de- 
scriptions of  Louisiana  and  of  the  principal  river  of  the  United 
States,  are  unjustifiable.  To  exaggerate  thus  seemed  to  me 
taking  too  great  a  license  even  in  the  case  of  a  poet.  More- 
over, his  criticism  of  Shakespeare-^  and  the  spirit  pervading 
his  Martyrs  convinced  me  that  he  had  not  grasped  the  spirit  of 
his  time,  that  he  still  belonged  to  the  age  of  Madame  de  Main- 
tenon,  to  whom  his  Genie  du  Christianism  would  have  been  a 
real  comfort  in  her  last  days.  As  a  man,  however,  he  has  in- 
finitely gained  in  my  admiration  by  his  firm  attitude  toward 
Charles  X,  by  his  chivalrous  loyalty  to  this  monarch  after  he 
had  fallen,  and  by  his  bold  defense  of  the  rights  of  the  royal 
grandson." 

Censuring  James  Fenimore  Cooper  and  the  lack  of  reahsm 
in  his  novels,  he  has  the  following  to  say :  ^^"In  the  entire 
United  States  you  will  not  find  dolts  who  permit  themselves 
to  be  pulled  about  like  Leatherstocking,  nor  a  Kentuckian  who 
would  stand  before  a  captain  with  his  cap  in  his  hand,  as  is 
the  case  in  The  Prairie.  The  author,  a  seaman,  transferred 
naval  discipline  to  the  mainland,  and  made  a  mistake  in  this. 
For  the  American  of  the  mainland  is  a  person  altogether 
different  from  the  American  who  is  confined  to  the  ship.  I 
have  the  greatest  respect  for  the  sea  novels  of  this  excellent 
writer.  That  was  his  proper  sphere,  within  it  he  was  more 
than  a  mere  imitator  of  Walter  Scott,  he  was  an  original  genius 
and  he  has  been  of  the  greatest  service,  for  he  has  strengthened 
the  seafaring  spirit  of  the  nation,  and  by  choosing  this  course 
has  demonstrated  that  the  Americans  are  the  first  seafaring 
nation." 

'^^  Morton,  pp.  13-14. 

20  Cf.  Chateaubriand,  Oeuvres  Completes,  Saint  Beuve  edition,  v. 
XI,  pp.  576-580. 

21  Morton,  p.  15. 

•  17  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

Comparing  Cooper  with  Walter  Scott,  he  continues :  ^^"Of 
his  (Scott's)  numerous  imitators  the  author  of  The  Last  of  the 
Mohicans  is  probably  the  only  one  who  was  truly  permeated 
with  his  calling  as  a  writer.  The  nature  which  he  describes 
is  greater  than  that  Walter  Scott  has  pictured ;  his  ocean 
scenes  are  unsurpassable,  but  as  I  said,  he  lacks  the  scientific 
and  philosophical  education,  and  unfortunately,  he  also  imitates 
Walter  Scott  in  the  sin  of  writing  too  much." 

Among  the  remaining  contemporary  novelists  he  makes 
honorable  mention  of  Bulwer-Lytton  and  of  Victor  Hugo,  but 
his  greatest  tribute  of  praise  and  admiration  he  pays  to  Walter 
Scott.-"'  "I  know  of  no  writer,"  he  says,  "who  is  filled  more 
deeply  with  the  sacredness  of  his  calling  than  is  Walter  Scott. 
.  .  .  What  self-esteem,  what  esteem  for  his  country,  pervades 
his  work  .  .  .  -"^The  true  novel  can  thrive  and  flourish  only  upon 
a  free  soil,  because  upon  the  latter  depend  the  free  expression 
of  opinion  and  the  unrestricted  representation  of  social  and 
political  conditions  in  all  their  relations  and  interrelations." 

It  is  in  connection  with  his  summary  of  Scott's  work  as 
the  founder  of  the  classic-historical  novel  that  Sealsfield  states 
the  principles  which  guided  him  in  his  own  literary  endeavors. 
He  says:  ''It  was  he  (Walter  Scott),  who  raised  the  novel  to 
the  high  plane  which  it  occupies  now,  who  has  given  to  the 
best  and  most  enlightened  of  his  country,  as  well  as  to  the 
middle  classes  and  the  less  educated  a  national  reading  book 
for  their  recreation  and  instruction,  and  thereby  has  relieved 
one  of  the  most  pressing  wants  of  the  time."^'* 

To  follow  the  example  which  Scott  set,  not  as  an  imitator, 
—for  he  thinks  little  of  imitation — but  as  his  compeer,  is  the 
i'.im  which  Sealsfield  wishes  to  attain  in  his  novels.  ^^"I  wish 
to  contribute  my  part,"  he  continues,  "to  give  to  the  historical 
novel  that  higher  significance  by  which  it  may  influence  more 

'^Morton,  p.  17. 
'^^Ibid.,  p.  11. 
24  Ibid,  p.  13. 
-'5  Ibid,  p.  17. 
2«/6iU,  p.  18. 

18  


LIFE  AND  WORKS 

effectually  the  culture  of  our  time.  .  .  ^^The  goal  at  which  T 
aim  is  the  principle  of  enHghtenment  and  of  spiritual  progress, 
and  I  shall  remain  true  to  it."  He  wishes  to  attain  this,  not  by 
the  portrayal  of  bygone  ages  and  characters,  but  "by  depicting 
facts,  living  persons  of  the  present  time  according  to  the  prin- 
ciple that  public  characters  may  be  treated  in  public." 

Again  he  defines  his  conception  of  the  historical  novel  as 
distinguished  from  that  of  Walter  Scott  in  his  autobiographical 
sketch  as  follows:  "The  author  (Sealsfield)  who,  on  his  fre- 
quent journeys  to  the  southwestern  states  of  the  Union,  had 
become  familiar  with  their  development  and  their  progress 
conceived  the  idea  of  representing  this  process  of  civilization 
in  sketches  and  pictures.  Moreover,  he  had  not  failed  to  ob- 
serve that  in  a  country  with  a  widely  distributed  public  press 
the  traditional  family  novel  or  historical  novel  was  out  of  place 
— that  in  a  country  having  a  highly  defveloped  public  life  a 
novel  of  similar  character  would  be  possible.  The  author 
therefore,  entertained  the  idea  to  represent  this  public  life 
not  only  in  sketches  and  pictures,  but  to  represent  them  so 
that  although  only  loosely  connected  they  would  form  a  whole 
which  should  bring  the  Republic  of  the  United  States  before 
the  eyes  of  the  German  people  in  the  living  image  of  the  novel 
form."^^ 

The  success  of  his  novel  Der  Virey  und  die  Aristokraten, 
which  had  been  written  as  an  illustration  of  his  new  conception 
of  a  national-historical  novel,  encouraged  him  to  carry  out  his 

27  Morton,  p.  19. 

28  That  later  American  historians  have  l©oked  upon  Sealsfield's 
novels  as  a  source  of  history  may  be  seen  in  the  following  passage  of 
Henry  T.  Tuckerman,  (America  and  her  Commentators,  p.  311)  :  "The 
intensity  and  freshness  of  their  delineations  excited  much  interest.  They 
seemed  to  open  a  new  and  genuine  view  of  romance  in  American  life, 
or,  rather,  to  make  the  infinite  possibilities  thereof  charmingly  apparent. 
This  was  an  experiment  singularly  adapted  to  a  German,  who,  with 
every  advantage  of  European  education,  in  the  freshness  of  life  had 
emigrated  to  this  country,  and  there  worked  and  traveled,  observed  and 
reflected,  and  then,  looking  back  from  the  ancient  quietude  of  his  an- 
cestral land,  could  delineate,  under  the  inspiration  of  contrast,  all  the 
wild  and  wonderful,  the  characteristic  and  original  phases  and  facts 
of  his  existence  in  Texas,  Pennsylvania,  or  New  York." 

19  


CHARIvES  SEALSFIEI.D 

favorite  idea  of  representing  the  United  States  in  national  or 
hig'her  ethnic  romances  (Volksroman).  Defining  in  detail  what 
was  in  his  mind  he  gives  most  valuable  hints  in  regard  to  the 
new  technique  of  the  novel  which  he  developed.  ''Whereas  in 
the  former  family  novel,  the  picaresque  novel,  or  whatever 
it  may  be  called,  the  hero  of  the  story  was  the  chief  char- 
acter around  whom  the  other  characters  revolved,  the  hero  oi 
the  new  novel  is,  if  I  am  permitted  to  say  so,  the  entire  people ; 
their  social,  political  and  religious  relations  take  the  place 
which  was  formerly  taken  up  by  'adventures' ;  the  past  and 
future  of  the  nation  are  used  as  the  historical  costume,  love 
scenes  and  adventures  are  employed  only  occasionally  as  a 
foil,  for  the  sake  of  contrast,  interest  and  emphasis."  This 
genre  of  the  novel  which  the  author  chooses  to  call  the  national 
or  higher  ethnic  novel,  in  order  to  distinguish  it  from  the 
traditional  popular  romance,  "has  a  many  colored  basis  in 
history,  of  which  it  is  destined  to  become  an  important  second- 
ary source.  Much  is,  of  course,  to  be  done  yet  in  this  field,  but 
he  feels  justified  in  claiming  to  be  the  originator  of  this  kind 
of  novel,  as  he  believes  to  have  been  the  first  who  laid  this 
broad,  historical,  national  and  social  foundation  for  it." 

That  Sealsfield  with  this  theory  of  the  national-ethnic 
novel  anticipated  by  at  least  fifteen  years  Karl  Gutzkow's  doc- 
trine of  the  Roman  des  Nebeneinander  and  of  the  social  novel, 
was  pointed  out  long  ago  by  Professor  Julius  Goebel  in  his 
review  of  A.  B.  Faust's  monograph.  In  the  same  review  atten- 
tion was  called  to  the  fact  that  Wolfgang  Menzel,  the  critical 
forerunner  of  Young  Germany,  had  expressed  views  similar 
to  those  of  Sealsfield  several  years  before  in  his  remarkable 
book  Die  deutsche  Literatur,  published  in  1828.  The  resem- 
blance of  ideas  is  indeed  so  striking  that  it  cannot  be  explained 
as  a  fortuitous  coincidence,  and  we  are  constrained  to  assume 
that  Sealsfield  was  acquainted  with  Menzel's  book.  This  is  all 
the  more  probable  in  view  of  the  fact  that  in  1828  he  became  not 
only  a  contributor  to  the  Morgenhlatt,  the  literary  supplement 
of  which  was  edited  by  Menzel,  but  also  the  business  represen- 
tative of  the  book  firm  of  Cotta  at  Philadelphia,  to  whom  the 

20  


LIFE  AND  WORKS 

latest  and  best  German  publications  were  to  be  sent,  among 
them  the  Morgenblatt.^^  While  it  is  most  likely  that  Menzel's 
Deutsche  Literatur,  which  was  the  literary  sensation  of  the  day, 
was  included  in  these  shipments  of  books,  there  is,  moreover, 
sufficient  inner  evidence  to  prove  Sealsfield's  indebtedness  to 
the  critical  pathfinder.  Finally  a  comparison  between  Tokeah, 
or  the  White  Rose  (1829),  a  sentimental  Indian  story  in  Coop- 
er's style,  with  Der  Legitime  und  die  Republikaner  (1833) 
shows  a  change  in  the  author's  conception  of  the  novel  which 
can  be  explained  only  by  his  acquaintance  with  Menzel's  book 
made  in  the  interval  between  1829  and  1833. 

Discussing  the  origin  and  influence  of  modem  Roman- 
ticism, the  chief  characteristic  of  which  he  sees  in  the  marvel- 
ous as  opposed  to  classical  intellectualism,  Menzel  says: 
^""There  is  finally  a  fifth  kind  of  the  Romantic  which  promises 
more  and  more  to  become  the  most  important  and  efifectual. 
In  many  respects  we  may  consider  Herder  its  real  fotmder. 
It  seeks  the  romantic  marvel  in  the  sphere  of  nationality,  in  the 
particular  nature,  ways,  and  manners  of  peoples.  Its  principal 
champion  at  present  is  Walter  Scott.  He  has  the  undeniable 
merit  of  being  the  founder  of  the  historical  novel,  as  a  char- 
acteristic species  of  fiction,  and  his  extraordinary  popularity 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  he  understood  the  general  trend  of  his 
time,  which  manifested  itself  in  a  wide-spread  interest  in  the 
peculiar  physiognomy  of  various  nations,  their  differences  and 
characteristics."  The  innermost  notion  of  the  historical  novel 
created  by  Walter  Scott  differs  essentially  from  similar  previ- 
ous attempts.  The  latter  hitherto  placed  single  distinguished 
Qien  or  families  in  the  foreground,  assigning  to  the  nation  from 
which  the  hero  sprang  the  role  of  a  supernumerary.  The  new 
method,  however,  describes  in  place  of  single  heroes  whole 
nations,  instead  of  single  characters  the  physiognomy,  the  cus- 
toms, and  characteristics  of  entire  countries  and  times,  instead 

29  See  the  highly  interesting  draft  of  the  business  contract  in  A.  B. 
Faust's  monograph,  Der  Dichter  heider  Hemisphdren,  p.  178  ff.,  contain- 
ing a  remarkable  list  of  books  for  which  Sealsfield  expected  to  find  a 
market  in  America. 

^^Die  deutsche  Literatur,  v.  II,  p.  97  ff. 

21  ■ 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

of  single  deeds  the  life-development  of  whole  generations." 
This  kind  of  poetry  may,  therefore,  also  be  called  democratic 
in  character.  "From  time  immemorial,"  continues  Menzel, 
''man  has  been  the  subject  of  poetry,  and  from  this  principle 
the  new  novel  cannot  deviate.  However,  it  sees  in  man  a  mem- 
ber of  human  kind  rather  than  an  individuality.  The  hero  of 
the  historical  novel,  therefore,  is  no  longer  a  single  man  but 
the  people."'-^'^ 

As  Menzel  was  one  of  the  first  German  critics  in  the  early 
part  of  the  nineteenth  century  to  espouse  the  cause  of  a  closer 
union  of  life  and  literature,  we  are  not  surprised  to  find  that 
Seaisfield  followed  Menzel's  suggestion  also  with  regard  to  his 
advocacy  of  realism.  "Out  of  a  single  hero,"  says  Menzel, 
"the  poet  can  make  what  he  pleases,  but  a  people  he  must  take 
as  it  really  is.  There  is  nothing  left  to  him  but  to  recognize 
the  poetic  element  in  reality. "^^'  And  in  conformity  with  Men- 
si  Compare  also  the  following  passage,  p.  171 :  "From  the  entire 
bulk  of  the  distant  and  bygone  the  poet  selects  bright  coherent  pictures, 
and  presents  them  to  our  eyes  in  a  pleasing  frame.  We  are  looking 
into  the  strange  present,  into  a  different  world,  in  which,  however, 
everything  is  so  natural,  as  if  it  were  still  living,  and  this  is  the  epic 
element  of  the  historical  novel.  Finally  the  poet  brings  several  nations 
into  close  contact,  and  chooses  moments  of  history,  in  which  they  really 
became  engaged  in  a  vital  conflict." 

3^  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Seaisfield  at  the  close  of  his  career 
attributed  the  success  of  his  novels  chiefly  to  their  realistic  qualities. 
Kertbeny,  an  Hungarian  writer,  who  saw  much  of  him  during  his  last 
years  and  carefully  marked  down  everything  worthy  of  note,  reports 
the  following  conversation :  "When  one  day  I  turned  the  conversation 
to  the  novel  and  the  role  it  plays  in  modern  life,  Seaisfield  remarked : 
'In  France  and  Germany  where  the  novel  is  only  a  means  of  exciting 
the  imagination,  and  offers  only  entertainment,  and  at  the  most,  brilliant 
discussions  of  inner  problems,  one  has  no  idea  how  important  a  role 
the  novel  plays  in  the  civilization  of  England  and  America.  There  all 
(|uestions  of  daily  and  social  life  are  ventilated  in  this  form,  and  the 
masses  who  read  journals  and  novels  almost  exclusively,  obtain  their 
educational  nourishment  almost  entirely  from  these  two  sources.  A 
good  deal,  therefore,  of  the  surprise  and  fascination  which  my  novels 
created  is  not  due  as  much  to  my  individual  endowments,  as  to  the 
vantage  ground  of  having  been  the  first  to  introduce  this  genre  into 
German  literature,  and  to  maintain  this  ground  so  unconcernedly  as 
though  Germany  had  long  been  accustomed  to  it.  This  genre  is  called 
Reality,  an  artistic  interest  in  which  is  created  and  increased  by  the  in- 
troduction of  profound  psychological  problems'." — Cf.  Meister,  Oskar, 
Erinneriingen,  p.  18,  who  speaks  of  the  psychology  in  his  works,  and 
(p.  23)   calls  him  the  hochgefeierte  Volkerpsychologe. 

22   — 


LIFE  AND  WORKS 

zel's  view  Sealsfield  says  in  the  introduction  to  Morton:  ''Ac- 
cording to  my  opinion  the  nature  of  the  subject  which  we  treat 
must  determine  the  form  and  manner  of  treatment :  the  rep- 
resentation must  be  in  conformity  with  nature,  in  short  it 
must  be  as  reaUstic  as  possible."  That  Sealsfield  was  hailed 
as  a  champion  of  'realism,'  which  the  group  of  Young  Ger- 
many had  made  their  watchword,  by  contemporary^  writers  may 
be  seen  from  a  review  in  the  Literarische  Zeitung  of  August 
30,  1837,  entitled  Der  neue  I'nhekannte  who  "lately  has  been 
called  an  Englishman  of  the  name  of  Seatsfield  (sic!)."  The 
reviewer,  who  is  proud  of  the  fact  that  the  Anglo-American 
Sealsfield  has  chosen  the  German  language  as  his  vehicle  of 
expression,  calls  his  productions  the  most  national  that  have 
appeared  of  late,  and  continues :  "What  characterizes  the  'New 
Unknown'  is  his  strict  adherence  to  the  present,  to  life  and 
reality,  and  with  this  he  has  attained  the  most  marvelous  effect ; 
he  has  contrasted  the  purely  imaginative  novel  with  the  novel 
of  reality.  The  domain  of  fiction  has  thereby  been  enriched 
in  the  same  way  as  the  drama  was  once  advanced  by  Shake- 
speare ;  it  has  become  the  expression  of  the  fullest  and  most 
intense  life  and  of  the  richest  individuality.  For  his  endeavor 
to  represent  reality  the  author  could  not  have  found  a  more 
favorable  field  than  is  presented  by  America,  the  country  of 
history  in  the  making." 

In  a  similar  way  a  critic  in  the  Hallische  J ahrhilcher  of 
February  18.  1842,  says  of  the  author  of  the  Lehenshilder  aus 
beiden  Hemisphdrcn:  "He  displays  a  vividness  of  conception 
and  a  power  of  realistic  representation  which  dazzle  the  Ger- 
man reader." 

At  the  same  time  the  defects  of  a  l)old  realism  such  as 
Sealsfield  cultivated  were  not  overlooked  by  the  critics.  Thus 
a  reviewer  in  the  Liter arisclie  Zeitung  of  January  2.  1847,  has 
the  following  to  say :  "The  truthfulness  and  boldness  which 
are  peculiar  to  him  and  from  which  result  the  merits  of  his 
productions  are,  however,  also  the  cause  of  their  faults.  By 
depicting  life  as  it  is  he  frequently  gives  us  pictures  of  rude, 
uncouth  and  wild  scenes  without  the  necessary  poetic  mitiga- 

—  23  


CHARLES  SEALSFIKLD 

tion.  In  general  he  inclines  to  flaring  and  exaggerated  color- 
ation in  his  writings.  Of  course,  he  aims  at  reality  even  in 
those  parts  of  his  writings  in  which  he  exaggerates,  but  he 
looks  at  reality  through  a  glass  as  it  were,  through  which 
everything  appears  more  glaring  and  the  picture  becomes  a 
sort  of  caricature.  It  is  evident,  moreover,  that  he  frequently, 
not  unlike  E.  T.  A.  Hoffmann,  endeavors  to  obtain  an  uncanny 
effect." 

Finally,  the  last  part  of  Treitschke's  short  discussion  of 
Sealsfield  in  his  history  of  the  19th  century  may  be  quoted  as 
a  fair  estimate  of  our  author's  position  in  the  development  of 
modem  realism  in  German  literature :  ^^''His  novels  Die  Legl- 
timisten  (Der  Legitime)  and  Der  Virey  led  our  poetry  for  the 
first  time  into  the  far  west,  into  the  national  wars  and  race 
struggles,  in  which  so  many  Germans  have  participated.  In 
the  marvelous  splendor  of  the  landscape  which  he  describes, 
in  the  energy  of  his  character  painting,  he  surpassed  Cooper  by 
far,  but  in  all  his  writings  there  was  a  feverish  restlessness  at 
work,  to  which  the  masses  of  his  readers  preferred  even  the 
verboseness  of  Cooper.  In  such  unschooled,  vigorous  talents 
ihe  spirit  of  an  epoch  can  best  be  seen,  Sealsfield's  writings 
proved  how  irresistibly  the  time  pressed  on  toward  realism." 

Although  Sealsfield  in  many  respects  agreed  and  sym- 
pathized with  the  political,  social  and  esthetic  ideals  of  Young 
Germany,  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  rank  him  with  this  con- 
temporary group  of  writers,  nearly  all  of  whom  he  excelled 
in  creative  power  as  well  as  in  the  knowledge  and  experience 
of  the  world.  After  he  had  read  Gutzkow's  famous  novel  Die 
Ritter  vom  Geist,  he  wrote  to  a  friend :  ^*"One  can  easily  see 
that  Gutzkow  lives  among  women  and  literary  men  and  not  in 
the  world.  .  .  .  ^^Gutzkow  is  one  of  the  shallowest  writers 
known  to  me,  who  has  nothing  true  about  him  except  his  shal- 
lowness.    At  the  same  time  there  is  a. display  of  learning  in 

33  Treitschke,  H.  v.,  Deutsche  Geschichte  im  neunsehnten  Jahr- 
hundert,  pt.  IV,  p.  451. 

34  Faust,  Der  Dichter  heider  Hemisphdren,  p.  264. 

35  Ibid,  p.  265. 

24  


LIFE  AND  WORKS 

his  stories  which  must  enchant  the  Germans,  who  are  always 
given  to  this  hobby.  Indeed,  there  is  little  hope  for  poor  Ger- 
many if  one  is  permitted  to  infer  from  its  literature  and  its 
writers  to  the  people  itself,  for  among  all  other  nations  litera- 
ture is  one  of  the  mainsprings  of  national  character  and  nation- 
al consciousness."  It  was  probably  on  account  of  Heine's  lack 
of  national  pride  and  consciousness  that  Sealsfield  refused  to 
make  his  asquaintance  while  on  a  visit  to  Paris.  He  con- 
sidered Heine  ''a  writer  of  a  conscience  morally  too  corrupt 
to  make  it  possible  for  a  man  of  principle  to  have  intercourse 
with  him."^^ 

At  the  same  time  Sealsfield  fully  recognized  the  pro- 
gressive tendency  of  the  young  German  writers,  as  is  shown 
by  a  significant  passage  in  Deutsch-amerikanische  Wahlver- 
7vandtschaften.  He  ridicules  the  fine  wits  "who  continually 
entertain  us  with  their  same  old  trifles,  and  if  possible,  would 
like  to  take  us  back  to  the  good  old  times  of  Ramler,  Uz  and 
Gleim.  This  the  nation  does  not  want  and  it  is  for  this  reason 
that  in  our  day  the  people  do  not  take  any  interest  in  literature 
and  in  the  lot  of  the  wTiters  ...  A  new  period  of  develop- 
ment, however,  is  dawning  in  our  entire  social  life  as  well  as 
in  literature.  The  young  men  called  Young  Germany  have 
begun  this  new  period  of  development,  or  rather  are  its  pre- 
cursors. Feeling  that  the  old  roads  no  longer  can  be  travelled 
they  have  taken  a  new  course.  To  be  sure  they  have  gone 
astray,  but  they  awakened  the  consciousness  of  the  nation,  if 
I  may  say  so,  and  for  this  they  have  been  treated  too  harshly 
(by  the  government)  .  .  .  This,  however,  was  probably  caused 
by  the  fact  that  these  young  men  assumed  a  revolutionary  air. 
But  it  was  all  mere  air;  to  talk  of  their  'republicanism'  or 
their  attempted  'revolution'  is  folly.  On  the  other  hand  there 
is  no  doubt  that  they  anticipated  a  new  era  of  national  develop- 
ment and  are  working  for  its  realization. 

"It  was  a  period  such  as  the  present  that  once  produced  a 
Shakespeare.     In  the  same  way  the  present  period  of  transi- 
ts/^iW,  p.  78.— Cf.  Faust,  Seals  field's  Place  in  Literature,  Americana 
Germanica,  v.  I,  No.  1,  p.  7. 

25  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

tion  will  transform  the  life  of  book-worms  and  pedants,  in 
fact  our  whole  inner  life  into  real  life  and  repopulate  our  Par- 
nassus which  has  been  deserted  since  Goethe's  death.  Just  let 
these  young  and  strong  minds  become  free  and  active  and  take 
hold  of  life  as  Shakespeare  did,  and  you  will  soon  hear  that 
we  Germans  are  able  to  accomplish  things  as  great  as  the  Eng- 
lish and  any  other  nation  has  accomphshed." 

Sealsfield  was  a  writer  of  too  pronounced  a  personality 
and  too  independent  a  character  to  join  hands  with  a  literary 
coterie  given  in  a  large  measure  to  useless  theorizing  such  as 
was  Young  Germany.  In  view  of  his  friendly  attitude  toward 
the  movement  which  they  represented,  it  is,  however,  of  the 
greatest  interest  to  notice  their  opinions  of  his  work  as  a  novel- 
ist which  in  many  respects  seemed  to  embody  some  of  their 
political  and  esthetic  doctrines.  That  Sealsfield  was  not  claimed 
directly  by  Young  Germany  as  one  of  their  associates  is  due 
chiefly  to  the  fact  that  they  were  not  aware  of  his  nationality. 

As  early  as  1835  Heinrich  Laube  in  his  Moderne  Charak- 
teristiken  has  a  short  chapter  on  Sealsfield  under  the  title  "Der 
neue  Unhekannte,"  whom  he,  like  the  rest  of  the  group,  con- 
sidered a  countryman  of  Cooper  and  not  a  German.  Of  Seals- 
field's  novels  there  had  appeared  up  to  that  time  only  Der 
Legitime  und  die  Repiiblikaner,  Der  Virey  und  die  Aristokra- 
ten,  and  Transatlanische  Reiseskizzen  (George  Howard) ,  and 
upon  these  Laube  based  his  criticism.  He  commends  the  "un- 
known" author  upon  his  happy  choice  of  a  popular  subject, 
i.  e.,  of  America,  which  (doubtless  on  account  of  the  large 
emigration)  ''is  perused  by  our  statesmen  and  our  story  writers 
like  a  grammar."  He  believes  that  the  new  American  author 
compares  very  favorably  with  Washington  Irving  and  Cooper, 
and  in  fact,  surpasses  the  latter  in  variety  and  fertility  of  mind. 
He  claims,  moreover,  that  the  "New  Unknown"  satisfies  the 
demands  of  the  German  reader  who,  having  become  tired  of 
the  various  offshoots  of  Romanticism  ''now  finds  the  magic 
of  novelty  in  the  connection  of  history  with  reality." 

Theodor  Mundt,  another  member  of  the  Young  German 
group,  places  Sealsfield  above  Cooper  and  Irving,  and  calls 

26  — 


LIFE  AND  WORKS 

him  ^^*'the  great  national  character  painter  of  his  country," 
who  "in  everything  he  writes,  proves  to  be  of  an  exhaustive 
thoroughness,  which  in  itself  is  just  as  imposing  as  the  subject 
which  he  treats  is  immense.  In  the  description  of  American 
'andscapes  and  their  prodigious  vegetation,  and  of  the  poetry 
of  the  wilderness,  all  of  which  he  knows  how  to  conjure  up  be- 
fore us  in  their  details  as  well  as  in  their  overwhelming  vast- 
ness,  he  has  attained  the  highest  perfection  by  the  simplest 
means  of  coloring.  Equally  admirable  is  the  psychological  in- 
sight with  which  he  views  the  combination  of  the  national  and 
the  human  elements  in  the  individuality  of  his  characters. "^^ 

While  it  may  seem  strange  that  l.udolf  Wienbarg,  the 
foremost  critic  of  the  Young  German  group,  docs  not  even 
mention  Sealsfield  in  his  writings,  it  must  be  remembered  that 
he  paid  little  attention  to  the  theor}^  of  the  novel  and,  more- 
over, had  a  strong  aversion  to  Walter  Scott  and  especially  to 
his  numberless  imitators,  among  whom  he  may  have  counted 
the  German-American  author.''^ 

It  is,  however,  of  special  interest  and  significance  to  note 
that  it  was  Wolfgang  Menzel  who  in  his  Litcratiirblatt^'^  first 
recognized  the  lasting  qualities  in  Sealsfield's  realistic  art,  and 
predicted  for  his  novels  a  permanent  place  in  German  litera- 
ture. He  says :  "The  name  of  the  author  of  these  spirited  de- 
scriptions (Lehenshilder  aus  heiden  Hcniisphdrcn  and  Nathan) 
is  still  unknown.  We  must,  however,  say  in  his  praise  that  his 
latest  works  are  still  more  attractive  than  his  first,  and  that 
he  excels  both  Cooper  and  Washington  Irving  if  not  in  truth- 
fulness of  delineation,  then  certainly  in  delicacy  and  warmth 
of  coloring.  If  we  arc  not  totally  mistaken  these  transatlantic 
pictures  will  not  be  forgotten  like  so  many  ephemeral  produc- 
tions, but  will  maintain  an  honorable  place  among  the  books 
that  live  forever.  .  .  .  The  author  has  indeed  the  rare  gift  of 

^'^  Allgeme'mc  Literatiirgcschichtc.   1848,   v.    Ill,   pp.   387-388. 
^^  Of  the  same  contents  is  a  characterization  in  liis  Gcschichtc  dcr 
Liferatur  dcr  Gegenwnrt,   1853,  pp.   738-739. 

3'^  Schweizer.  Victor,  Ludolf  Wienbarg,  p.   148  ff. 
*o  February  14,  1838. 

27  


CHARLES  SEAIvSFIELD 

affording  us  the  illusion  of  absolute  reality  and  to  snatch  from 
nature  those  intimate  details  which  force  the  imagination  to 
give  itself  over  entirely  to  the  object  described.  .  .  Every  one 
of  his  pictures  breathes  life,  truth,  nature!" 

The  best  contemporary  appreciation  of  the  significance  of 
Sealsfield's  work  was  furnished  by  Alexander  Jung,  a  dis- 
tinguished critic  and  enthusiastic  champion  of  the  modem 
spirit  of  German  literature,  in  a  course  of  three  remarkable 
lectures,  published  under  the  title  of  Vorlesimgen  uber  die  Mo- 
derne  Literatur  der  Deutschen,  1842.  He  defines  the  modem 
spirit,  whose  history  he  traces  in  German  literature  since 
Goethe,  as  the  spirit  of  individual,  political,  and  social  freedom, 
the  spirit  of  true  democracy,  which  to  him  includes  the  social 
element.  The  chief  exponents  of  this  spirit  he  sees  in  Schleier- 
macher  and  especially  in  Hegel,  of  whose  philosophy  he  is  an 
enthusiastic  disciple.  Of  all  the  modern  poets  and  writers 
who  are  representatives  of  this  spirit,  none  has  embodied  it  in 
its  most  perfected  form  and  all-embracing  breadth  and  depth 
as  has  Sealsfield,  whose  works  should,  therefore,  be  called 
world  epics.  "In  this  novelist,"  he  says,  at  the  close  of  his 
last  lecture,  "the  modern  spirit  has  thus  far  undoubtedly  found 
its  most  objective  and  greatest  development  and  personifica- 
tion, a  personification  that  stands  above  parties  as  well  as  na- 
tions." Not  knowing  who  the  great  Unknown  is,  Jung  ven- 
tures the  conjecture  that  he  belongs  to  that  nation  (the  Ger- 
man) which  "has  in  an  ideal  manner  absorbed  the  spirit  of  all 
peoples,  in  order  to  comprehend  this  spirit  philosophically  and 
then  to  reflect  it  artistically."  "However  that  may  be,"  he 
continues,  "we  are  amazed  at  Sealsfield's  omniscience  as  we 
are  amazed  at  Shakespeare's  infinite  knowledge.  Whatever 
he  pictures  to  us,  he  presents  in  such  a  way  that  we  perceive 
it  in  every  fibre  of  life,  no  matter  whether  ugly,  despicable,  and 
terrible,  or  whether  graceful,  lovely  and  charming;  no  matter 
whether  nature  or  man,  or  earth,  ocean  and  heaven ;  whether 
backwoodsmen,  fashionables  of  New  York,  or  a  highly  edu- 
cated Prussian,  with  a  little,  just  a  little,  comical  by-taste  of 
provinciality.    Since  our  poet,  liberal,  educated,  and  intelligent 

28  


LIFE  AND  WORKS 

as  he  is,  knows  how  to  present  people  in  the  most  natural  and, 
therefore,  most  true  relation,  and  since  he  narrates  all  this  in 
such  choice  and  new,  as  well  as  simple  and  most  flexible  lang- 
uage, we  extol  in  him  at  the  same  time  the  principal  character- 
istics of  modern  thought  and  life — liberty  and  free  social 
existence,  elegance  and  popularity  in  their  most  intimate 
union. "*^ 

Finally  the  critical  estimate  of  Arnold  Ruge,  a  political 
writer,  literary  critic,  and  adherent  of  the  younger  Hegelian 
school  of  philosophy,  deserves  to  be  mentioned.  It  is  contained 
in  his  Sdmtliche  IVerke  (2nd  ed.,  1847),  and  attempts  a 
characterization  of  vSealsfield  as  portrayed  in  his  Cabin-Book. 
Ruge  sees  in  the  author's  treatment  of  the  transatlantic  world 
his  true  greatness.  He  wishes  that  the  "good  sense  and  brave 
political  spirit,  the  honor  and  the  pride  of  this  wonderful 
republican  people"  might  be  transplanted  to  Germany  (v.  III. 
p.  309.) 

It  is  above  all  the  presence  of  the  modern  spirit  and  of 
the  extraordinary  realistic  power  revealed  in  Sealsfield's  writ- 
ings which  the  critical  opinions  just  cited  bring  out  in  strong 
relief,  explaining  at  the  same  time  the  amazement  and  the 
enthusiasm  with  which  these  writings  were  received  by  the  gen- 
eral public.  Appearing  at  a  time  of  widespread  political  and 
social  unrest,  the  period  of  Weltschmerz,  a  time  wear)%  more- 
over, of  the  dream-world  of  romanticism,  and  craving  for  actu- 
ality, activity  and  liberty,  the  productions  of  the  New  Un- 
known came  like  a  message  from  a  land  where  all  the  hopes 
and  desires  of  the  German  people  seemed  to  have  found  ful- 
fillment. In  the  new  world  which  this  mysterious  nameless 
author  painted  with  such  glowing  colors  there  existed  life, 
active,  pulsating  life — here,  indeed,  was  a  nation  that  had  been 
successful  in  its  struggle  for  freedom,  that  had  created  its  own 
institutions  and  laws,  and  under  the  banner  of  liberty  was  liv- 
ing in  happiness  and  plenty.    No  wonder  that  Sealsfield's  novels 

41  The  whole  criticism  is  translated  in  Tailandier's  Le  Romancier  de 
la  democratic  americaine,  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  ser.  I,  v.  LXXI, 
pp.  466-467. 

29  


CHARLES  SEALSFIBXD 

stimulated  the  desire  for  emigration  to  America  to  a  degree 
even  greater  than  had  Schnabel's  description  of  the  peaceful 
transatlantic  Utopia  Insel  Felsenburg.  Nor  can  there  be  any 
question  that  in  Germany  itself  these  novels  nourished  and 
strengthened  the  rising  democratic  spirit. 

As  early  as  1827,  in  the  preface  to  his  book  Die  Vereinig- 
fen  Staaten  von  Nord-Amerika,  Sealsfield  considered  it  his  mis- 
sion *^"to  direct  the  attention  of  Europe  and  her  inhabitants 
(meaning,  of  course,  chiefly  Germany)  to  the  present  status 
of  the  Union  and  to  give  them  a  correct  view  of  the  country 
which  has  already  reacted  in  so  many  ways  upon  the  old  world 
and  which  is  destined  to  react  upon  it  even  more  in  the 
future."*^  In  the  same  spirit  he  dedicated  the  second  edition 
of  the  Lebensbiider  as  follows :  "TO  THE  GERMAN  NA- 
TION, roused  to  the  consciousness  of  its  power  and  dignity, 
these  pictures  of  the  domestic  and  public  life  of  the  FREE 
CITIZENS  OF  A  FREE  STATE  destined  to  historical  great- 
ness, are  respectfully  dedicated  as  a  mirror  for  self-examina- 
tion." Finally  in  the  preface  to  his  Gesammelte  Werke  he  ex- 
pressed his  gratitude  to  the  German  people  for  the  very  favor- 
able reception  which  they  gave  his  works,  "a  reception  which 
will  never  cause  the  author  to  regret  that  he  devoted  his  modest 
talent  to  the  German  nation."  Hence  Leo  Smolle,  his  early 
biographer,  describes  Sealsfield's  conception  of  his  calling 
quite  correctly  when  saying:  **"To  transfuse  the  freshly  pulsat- 
ing blood  of  the  Transatlantic  Republic  into  the  senile  veins 
of  the  Old  World,  to  acquaint  his  countrymen  with  the  spirit 
of  true  liberty  he  considered  his  sacred  duty,  a  duty  which  he 
felt  obliged  to  take  upon  himself  as  a  mission  entrusted  to  him 
by  a  higher  power." 

It  is  all  the  more  tragic,  therefore,  that  the  failure  of  the 
revolution  of  1848,  the  culmination  of  the  democratic  move- 

'^^  Die  Vereinigtcn  Staaten,  v.  L  P-  VI. 

^3  This  phase  of  Sealsfield's  romances  was  emphasized  by  Kurz, 
Grschichte  der  dcutschen  Literatur,  v.  IV,  p.  715,  Utcrarische  Zeitung. 
1842,  No.  42,  and  especially  in  Professor  Goebel's  review  of  Faust's 
book. 

^*  Smolle,  Leo,  Charles  Sealsfield,  Wien,  1875,  p.  18. 
30 


LIFE  AND  WORKS 

ment  to  which  Sealsfield's  novels  had  indirectly  contributed  so 
much,  caused  not  only  the  abatement  of  his  productivity,  but 
also  the  v^^aning  of  his  popularity  and  influence.  During  the 
period  of  reaction  following  the  revolutionary  events  the 
former  interest  in  literature  and  poetry  had  almost  ceased. 
How  discouraging,  however,  the  unfortunate  turn  of  political 
events  was  to  Sealsfield,  may  be  seen  from  a  remark  in  one  of 
his  letters:  "^^''Since  I  heard  the  debates  in  the  Frankfort  par- 
liament, 1  expect  from  Germany  little  else  than  literary  re- 
views. In  this  they  are  masters ;  I  mean — in  mere  criticising." 
In  a  moment  of  such  dejection  he  burned  tlie  manuscript  of  his 
last  work,  the  continuation  of  his  novel  Deutsch-amerikanische 
[Vahlverwa'hdtschaften,  the  greater  part  of  which  had  been 
ready  for  the  printer  as  early  as  1848.  Nevertheless  he  fol- 
lowed the  political  development  in  Germany  with  the  deepest 
interest,  and  in  1862  he  wrote:  *^"Now  I  begin  to  divine  that 
Germany,  despite  all  apathy  and  phlegma,  is  undergoing  a 
transformation  and  that  Prussia  is  destined  to  take  the  leader- 
ship." 

With  a  concern  equally  deep,  if  not  deeper,  Sealsfield, 
after  his  return  to  Europe,  followed  the  development  of  his 
adopted  country,  and  especially  the  events  which  led  up  to  the 
Civil  War.  ''^"Our  troubles  in  the  United  States  are  of  a  kind 
which  makes  me  fear  the  worst,  in  fact,  the  very  worst ;  the 
separation  of  the  Union  not  only  in  two,  but  perhaps  in  four 
or  five  parts.  In  this  case  many  hundred  thousands  would 
lose  their  possessions.  I,  of  course,  would  be  among  these 
and  I  may  be  forced  to  take  refuge  again  to  my  pen,  an  eventu- 
ality which  God  forbid.  It  is  a  ])leasure  to  write  if  one  finds 
pleasure  in  it.  but  it  is  drudgery  if  one  has  no  joy  in  it,  and  1 
have  none,"  Again,  on  January  28,  1861,  he  wrote:  ''Our  con- 
ditions over  there  are  sad  and  make  one  despair  .  .  .  My 
country'  must  pass  through  all  the  crises  which  go  with  the 
diseases  of  larger  republics."    What  these  diseases  were  Seals- 

'*•''  Faust,  Dcr  Dichtcr  beider  Hemisplidren,  p.  267. 

46  May  8,  1862,  Faust,  Ibid.,  p.  267. 

47  January  6,  1861,  Faust,  Ibid.,  pp.  269-270. 

31  


chari.es  sealsfield 

field  knew  only  too  well,  but  like  many  patriots  he  saw  in  the 
war  a  process  of  national  purification.  Writing  October  15, 
1861,  he  says:  *'Our  government  at  Washington  seems  to  be 
composed  of  absolutely  incapable  men — lawyers  who  do  not 
look  beyond  their  lawsuits.  They  proceed  like  the  president 
and  the  directors  of  a  railroad  company,  and  in  addition  to  all 
this,  the  fatal  corruption,  stealing  and  swindling.  I  begin  to 
despair  of  the  safety  of  my  beloved  America.  Of  course,  what 
happens  over  there  is  at  the  same  time  a  process  of  purifica- 
tion, but  during  this  process  millions  of  the  best  citizens  must 
suffer  while  the  scoundrels  are  on  top." 

Nevertheless,  he  does  not  lose  faith  in  his  country  and  in 
the  ways  of  providence.  "If  you  study  the  course  of  develop- 
ment which  the  United  States  have  taken,"  he  writes  to  his 
friend,*^  "you  will  become  aware  of  the  greatness  of  this 
providence."  When  finally  the  prospects  of  victory  had  be^ 
come  brighter  he  proudly  exclaims  in  a  letter  of  May  2,  1862 : 
"The  people,  the  nation  have  shown  their  greatness  during  the 
past  year  and  that  consoles  a  citizen  like  myself  and  quiets 
him  in  the  midst  of  all  calamities.  It  is  a  veritable  sea  of  blood 
— of  our  blood,  through  which  our  people  must  wade — but  it 
was  necessary  for  our  purification  and  regeneration." 

The  very  fact  that  he  considered  the  purification  and  re- 
generation of  the  nation  a  necessity  shows  that  his  patriotism 
was  not  that  of  a  jingo  who  is  blind  to  all  national  faults  and 
believes  that  his  country  is  always  right.  He  recognized  the 
evil  forces  and  the  dangers  which  threaten  democracy,  and, 
like  a  prophet,  he  again  and  again  in  his  works  warned  and 
reproved  his  people.  When  after  an  absence  of  seventeen 
years  he  returned  to  America  for  a  short  visit,  he  wrote  to  a 
friend :  *®"I  found  the  material  progress  enormous,  the  political 
improvement  much  less,  and  the  intellectual  and  moral  advance 
smallest  of  all."  This  change  in  the  spirit  of  the  nation  de- 
pressed him  to  such  an  extent  that  he  refused  to  have  a  nevv 

48  October  15,  1861,  Faust,  p.  273. 

49  April  25,  1854,  Faust,  p.  284. 

32  


LIFE  AND  WORKS 

edition  of  his  works  printed,  ''because,"  as  he  said  to  Kert- 
beny,  "they  no  longer  show  the  Americans  as  they  are." 

Had  Sealsfieid  written  in  English  he  would  doubtless  be 
counted  among  the  foremost  American  novelists  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  Having  arrived  in  this  country  when  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  Revolutionary  War  were  still  alive  and  the  gigantic 
work  of  colonizing  the  vast  areas  of  the  West  was  at  its  height, 
he  had  the  good  fortune  of  witnessing  the  heroic  age  of  our 
Republic  whose  great  exploits  he  was  to  recite  in  a  series  of 
romances  of  enduring  value.  Some  of  his  competitors  in  the 
field,  novelists  hke  James  Fenimore  Cooper  and  William  Gil- 
more  Simms,  may  in  their  best  works  surpass  him  in  matters 
of  technique,  such  as  the  structure  of  the  plot  and  the  unity 
of  action — none,  however,  equals  him  in  psychological  pene- 
tration, in  historical  and  philosophical  training,  and  in  truth- 
fulness of  delineation. 

Comparing  the  picture  of  America  and  American  life 
reflected  in  his  works,  with  the  image  mirrored  in  the  poems 
written  by  Sealsfield's  countryman  and  contemporary,  Nikolaus 
Lenau,  the  great  lyric  poet,  during  his  brief  stay  in  this  country, 
one  is  struck  with  the  fidelity  to  nature  of  the  former  and  the 
spirit  of  optimism  and  energy  pervading  it,  in  contrast  to  the 
pessimism,  the  discontent,  and  the  consequent  distortion  in 
Lenau's  portrayal.  This  difference  is  due  not  only  to  the  dis- 
similarity of  temperament  in  the  two  men,  but  most  of  all  to  a 
difference  in  attitude.  The  readiness  and  receptivity  of  mind 
with  which  Sealsfieid  embraced  the  new  world  had  been  the 
attitude  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  his  countr}^men  who 
had  come  to  this  countr}^  to  take  part  in  the  building  of  a  new 
civilization  and  of  a  new  nationality.  Since  the  Revolutionary 
War  a  German-American  literature  had  been  growing  up  in  this 
country,  which  reflected  this  spirit  and  attitude  of  the  Amer- 
ican citizen  of  German  descent,  of  which  Sealsfieid  is  the 
greatest  spokesman  and  the  first  classic.  His  works  are  a  per- 
manent contribution  both  to  American  and  German  literature 
for  he  was  great  enough  to  combine  a  deep  attachment  to  the 
culture  of  his  native  land  with  the  sincere  loyalty  to  the  coun- 

33  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

try  of  his  adoption.  A  contemporary  of  Karl  Follen,  Francis 
Lieber,  Gustav  Korner,  and  many  other  men  of  science  and 
letters,  who  wrote  in  English  as  well  as  in  German,  Sealsfield 
is  the  foremost  American  romancer  in  the  German  language. 

As  the  questions  connected  with  the  ethnic  elements  are 
closely  interwoven  with  the  history  of  our  country,  Sealsfield's 
views  concerning  the  genesis  and  development  of  the  Amer- 
ican body  politic  will  be  treated  first. 


34 


PART  I. 

POLITICAL,  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 
IN  AMERICA. 

Chapter  I. 
COLONIZATION. 

The  first  Europeans  to  colonize  the  North  American  con- 
tinent were  the  British,  French  and  Dutch.  They  were  all 
made  of  different  stuff  and  had  different  reasons  and  motives 
to  urge  them  into  the  wilderness.  But  none  had  come  with 
the  same  intentions  nor  lived  the  same  life  as  did  the  Spanish 
in  Central  and  South  America.  The  Spaniard  had  come  to 
gain  riches,  and  riches  only,  and  after  he  had  satisfied  his 
greed  and  had  gratified  his  animal  desires,  he  returned  to  his 
mother  country  and  left  nothing  except,  perhaps,  some  children 
begotten  by  the  woman  with  whom  he  lived  in  concubinage. 
What  a  difference  between  such  settlers  and  those  that  colo- 
nized North  America  !^ 

"The  free  Briton,  who,  seeking  greater  liberty,  settled 
in  the  American  wilderness  and  transformed  it  in  tireless 
struggle,  and  with  the  sweat  of  his  brow  into  a  place  of  culture, 
did  not  only  bring  with  him  liberal  institutions  which  guarded 
him  against  brutal  usurpation,  but  infused  also  a  certain  respect 
which  even  by  the  most  presumptuous  is  never  denied  a  man 
of  action,  and  w^hich  for  the  same  reason  was  withheld  from 
the  descendants  of  the  Spanish  colonists  in  Mexico,  who  were 
absorbed  in  the  voluptuous  enjoyment  of  life,  and  who  reaped 
where  they  had  not  sown.  We  must  never  overlook  this  dif- 
ference in  the  method  used  in  the  first  European  settlements 

1  Virey,  pt.  II,  p.  200. 

„  35  


chari.es  sealsfield 

of  both  countries,  since  it  was  the  basic  factor  for  the  different 
development  of  social  conditions."^ 

What  courage,  energy  and  perseverance  it  took  to  v^rest 
the  land  from  the  natives,  only  to  gain  it  anew  through  even 
more  persistent  efforts  from  the  reign  of  the  wilderness;  the 
strength  and  endurance  it  required  to  withstand  disease  and 
pestilence,  is  shown  in  the  case  of  later  French  settlers.  They 
landed  in  the  South,  in  the  Mississippi  delta,  and  pushed  north, 
fighting  fever  and  noxious  insects — ^many  succumbed,  while 
others  conquered,  partly  by  subduing  the  swamps,  partly  by 
becoming  themselves  acclimated.  ^''Yes,  those  were  daring 
souls,  who  built  the  first  cabins  on  these  terrible  shores.  They 
are  mementoes  immortalizing  the  power  of  man,  which  the 
Frenchman  may  be  proud  of.  To  win  battles,  to  destroy  coun- 
tries, to  subdue  nations  under  a  mighty  yoke — demands  no 
strong  national  spirit,  no  extraordinary  power.  The  Huns, 
Tartars  and  Turks  can  do  these  things  as  well,  perhaps  better, 
than  Europeans ;  under  an  Attila,  Timour,  Solyman  they  have 
done  it.  But  to  settle  as  a  creative  spirit  in  terrible  solitude, 
in  a  watery  desert — to  struggle  with  nature,  with  the  wilder- 
ness, heat,  cold  and  the  floods — to  persevere  in  a  strife,  which 
no  trumpets  of  fame  proclaim  to  posterity,  demands  a  genuine 
spark  of  the  Promethean  fire,  and  displays  the  unconquerable 
energy  of  man.  If  the  Frenchmen  had  left  no  other  memorial 
of  their  prowess  than  the  settlement  and  culture  of  Louisiana, 
that  alone  would  be  all-sufficient  to  establish  and  perpetuate 
their  fame.  The  history  of  the  settlement  of  western  Egypt 
by  the  French  government  was  Characterized  by  folly,  error 

^  Andree,  Karl,  Nord-Amerika,  p.  36,  says:  "But  in  the  North  the 
plough  prevailed,  in  the  South  the  sword.  The  notions  of  the  Puritan 
who  came  to  this  home  covered  with  deep  snow,  were  different  from 
those  of  the  conquistador  in  the  sunny  South." — Cf.  Heeren,  A.  H.  L., 
Europe  and  its  Colonies,  pt.  I,  pp.  31-32.  He  distinguishes  between  four 
kinds  of  colonies.  "1.  Agricultural  colonies.  Their  object  is  the  culture 
of  land.  The  colonists  become  proprietors  and  are  at  home  in  their 
possessions ;  and,  as  they  advance,  finally  grow  into  an  independent 
nation."  2.  Colonies  for  plantations.  3.  Mining  colonies.  4.  Commercial 
colonies.— The  English  colonies  in  America,  although  founded  by  men 
interested  in  the  fur-trade,  belonged  to  the  first  class. 

3  Ralph  Doughty,  pp.  48-49. 

36  


POUTICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

and  levity,  deserving  more  to  be  called  the  conceptions  of  an 
idiot  than  the  measures  of  an  enlightened  government  for  the 
foundation  of  a  colony ;  but,  luckily,  the  spirit  of  the  French 
settlers  was  stronger  than  the  levity  of  their  rulers,  and  this 
spirit  succeeded  finally,  in  spite  of  almost  insurmountable 
obstacles  which  nature  and  rulers  threw  in  its  way,  in  laying 
the  foundation  for  the  civilization  of  a  continent,  which  is 
certainly  destined  to  play  one  of  the  most  important  parts  in 
future  history." 

French  immigrants  had  also  settled  in  the  peninsula  of 
Nova  Scotia,  where  they  tilled  the  soil  in  a  peaceful  way.  But 
these  Acadians,  as  they  called  themselves,  were  not  to  enjoy 
the  fruits  of  their  labor  very  long.  In  the  year  1713  Nova 
Scotia,  up  to  then  a  French  colony,  was  ceded  to  Britain  in 
the  treaty  of  Utrecht.  According  to  agreement  the  colonists 
were  to  be  neutral  in  case  of  war  between  the  two  powers. 
Nevertheless,  in  1776*  they  were  asked  by  England  to  take  up 
arms  against  their  beloved  France,  and  when  they  steadfastly 
refused,  were  driven  from  their  homes.  For  six  years  they 
wandered  about,  persecuted  by  the  English,  and  only  few 
reached  Louisiana.  These  few  were  hospitably  received  by 
their  brethren.  Now  they  were  under  Spanish  sovereignty, 
Louisiana  having  been  ceded  to  Spain  in  1763.  These  are  ex- 
planatory data  which  Sealsfield  records  in  a  foot-note  to  Ralph 
DougJihy,  p.  52,  and  which  are  to  sketch  the  historical  back- 
ground of  the  following  excerpt,  which  may  serve  at  the  same 
time  to  show  the  author's  ability  to  weave  historical  and  ethno- 
graphical material  into  the  texture  of  a  narrative.  They  are 
never  forced  in,  but  seem  rather  to  be  an  integral  part  which 
lends  beauty  and  completeness  to  the  whole:  "'"We  have  passed 
the  Cote  des  Acadiens.  How  enchantingly  beautiful  the  pale 
silvery  stripe  draws  along  toward  the  north !  They  are  the 
cypress  groves,  lit  up  by  the  last  rays  of  the  moon — a  thin  and 
mysterious  light ;  it  sparkles  mildly,  like  the  rainbow  of  the 
moon — mildly,  like  the  eye  of  Providence,  which  guides  the 

4  It  was  in  1755. 

^  Ralph  Doughhy,  pp.  51-52. 

■  37  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

world !  Perhaps  it  is  the  same  silvery  stripe,  which  lit  the  path 
of  the  poor  Acadians  on  their  sorrowful  wandering,  when 
eighty  years  ago  they  pursued  their  thorny  path  for  three 
thousand  miles,  from  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia.  They  were 
twelve  thousand  families,  who,  at  the  command  of  the  Second 
George  and  his  Tories,  were  torn  from  their  homes,  their  fire- 
sides and  their  huts,  because  they  would  not  fight  against  their 
fathers,  their  brothers  and  Louis  Quinze,  their  native  king. 
In  the  midst  of  winter  they  were  driven  from  their  valleys 
and  plains  and  fields,  which  their  hands  had  redeemed  from 
the  wilderness.  Men,  women,  old  men,  girls  and  infants  were 
chased  by  bloodhounds  beyond  the  boundaries  of  their  own 
country.  Thousands  froze  to  death,  starved,  or  fell  prey  to 
wild  beasts.  Only  a  miserable  remnant  succeeded  in  reaching, 
across  the  lakes  and  Illinois,  the  shores  of  the  Mississippi, 
down  which  they  floated  on  miserable  rafts.  On  her  shores 
and  in  the  Attacapas,  among  their  countrymen  and  the  Span- 
iards, they  found  succor  and  a  resting  place. "^ 

t'Cf.  Haliburton,  Thomas  C,  Nova  Scotia,  v.  I,  pp.  175-198. 

Cf.  Carpenter,  W.  H.,  History  of  Massachusetts,  p.  174  ff . :  "Sixteen 
years  before  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth,  a  small  French 
colony  had  established  itself  upon  the  peninsula  now  known  as  Nova 
Scotia,  but  to  which  the  early  settlers  had  given  the  name  of  Acadia. 
With  the  lapse  of  time,  the  little  colony  gradually  increased  both  in 
numbers  and  prosperity.  Reproached  for  their  adherence  to  the  Catho- 
lic faith  by  the  more  intolerant  of  their  Puritan  neighl)ors,  they  were 
not  un frequently  drawn  into  disputes  wholly  at  variance  with  their  quiet 
habits  and  pastoral  m.ode  of  life.  At  length,  by  the  treaty  of  Utrecht, 
.'Vcadia  became  a  province  of  Great  Britain.  True  to  the  language,  man- 
ners, customs,  and  religion  of  their  forefaihcrs,  the  old  inhabitants  still 
regarded  France  with  undiminished  affection,  even  while  yielding  sub- 
missively to  the  jurisdiction  of  England.  —  The  conquest  of  all  the 
regions  east  of  the  St.  Croix  River  having  been  thus  easily  accomplished, 
the  Acadians  were  called  upon  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  Great 
Britain.  To  this  demand  they  yielded  readily,  but  could  not  pledge 
themselves  to  serve  against  France."  Lawrence,  the  lieutenant-gover- 
nor, said:  "  'If  they  refuse  the  oath  it  would  be  better  they  were  away!' 
Their  expulsion,  determined  upon  from  the  first,  was  now  attempted 
to  be  legalized  l)y  the  making  of  a  judicial  decision;  a  plan  having  been 
secretly  arranged  to  seize  them  by  surprise— men,  women  and  children 
— and  to  distribute  them  through  the  several  colonies.  Alarmed  by  the 
foreshadowing  of  some  m3'sterious  calamity,  the  Acadians  offered  to 
take  the  oath  of  allegiance  in  any  form  the  authorities  might  desire, 
l)Ut  this  act  of  meek  submission  was  now  refused.  Regarded  by  the 
prejudiced  conquerors  as  'popish  recusants,'  their  deportation  was  re- 
solved upon.  Unconscious  of  what  was  to  follow,  all  the  male  inhabitants 

38  


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

Near  these  Acadians  who  took  refuge  on  the  east  bank 
of  the  Mississippi,  north  of  New  Orleans,  and  whose  settle- 
ments were  called  Premiere  and  Seconde  Cote  des  Ac  adieus, 
the  first  extending  eight,  the  second  six  leagues,  there  is  also 
a  Premiere  and  Seconde  Cote  des  Allemands,  extending  to- 
gether about  sixteen  leagues."  Chapter  II  of  Ralph  Doughby, 
from  which  the  last  two  selections  were  taken,  devotes  also  a 
paragraph  to  these  most  unfortunate  settlers  of  Louisiana : 
^''These  people  were  originally  Germans^  imported  under  the 
command  of  some  Swedish  or  Dutch  baron,  to  populate  the 
new  dukedom  of  Arkansas ;  the  notorious  Law,^"  and  a 
company  of  dragoons,  had  been  sent  along  to  keep  order  and 
discipline  among  them.     The  card  house  of  the   Mississippi 

of  Acadia  above  nine  years  of  age,  in  obedience  to  a  general  proclama- 
tion, assembled  on  the  ninth  of  September  at  places  previously  indicated. 
At  Grand  Pre.  one  of  these  posts,  four  hundred  armed  men  met  to- 
gether. Having  been  marched  into  the  church,  the  doors  of  which  were 
immediately  ckosed,  Winslow,  commanding  the  Massachusetts  forces, 
notified  them  that  their  lands  and  tenements  and  their  personal  property 
were  forfeited  to  the  crown,  and  that  they  themselves  were  to  be  re- 
moved from  His  Majesty's  pro\ince  of  Nova  Scotia.  Their  wives  and 
families  shared  this  sudden  blow.  The  houses  they  had  quitted  in  the 
morning  they  were  never  to  see  again.  This  was  not  all.  On  the  day 
of  embarkation  they  were  driven  on  shipboard  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet,  not  in  families,  nor  in  a  single  vessel,  but  divided  according 
to  sex,  and  in  different  ships,  destined  for  different  colonies.  By  this 
heartless  arrangement,  husbands  and  wives,  parents  and  children, 
brothers,  sisters  and  betrothed  lovers,  in  spite  of  tears  and  agonizing 
entreaties,  were  torn  from  one  another,  many  of  them  never  again 
destined  to  meet  on  earth.  From  the  10th  of  September  to  the  middle 
of  Decemlier,  the  work  of  embarkation  went  slowly  on  ;  the  unfortunate 
Acadians  being,  in  the  meanwhile,  crowded  together  on  the  coast,  suffer- 
ing from  an  insufficiency  of  clothing,  and  begging  for  bread.  Seven 
thousand,  of  these  unfortunate  people  were  thus  callously  deprived  of 
their  homes,  which  after  their  departure,  were  razed  to  the  ground  to 
prevent  them  from  affording  a  shelter  to  any  of  the  exiles  that  should 
chance  to  return.  Distributed  among  the  colonies  more  than  a  thousand 
were  carried  to  Massachusetts  where  they  remained  a  public  burden, 
until,  heartbroken  and  hopeless,  they  finally  languished  away." 

"^Navigator,  Appenda,  p.  200. — Cf.  An  Account  of  Louisiana  (U.  S. 
Jefiferson)^1803.  pp.  5-6. 

'■^  Ralph  Doughby,  pp.  46-47. 

•>  Flint,  Timothy,  Recollections,  p.  335,  refers  to  these  Germans  as 
being  removed  from  Nova  Scotia! 

10  John  Law  was  primarily  a  French  financier,  and  his  Mississippi 
scheme  was  to  help  France  financially.  Cf.  Wiston-Glynn,  A.  W.,  John 
Law  of  Laurisfon,  Edinburgh,  1907,  p.  52. 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

company^^  was  just  falling  to  pieces,  when  these  thousand 
unfortunates  arrived  in  the  pathless  wilderness  of  Arkansas, 
and  of  course  were  dismissed  from  thought.  Nine-tenths  of 
them  died  in  the  forests,  and  on  the  way  down  the  Mississippi ; 
the  miserable  remainder  succeeded  in  reaching  New  Orleans, 
and  finally  obtained  permission  to  build  their  huts  twenty  miles 
above  the  city.  And  they  built  in  sorrow  and  in  misery,  war- 
ring with  floods,  alligators  and  vermin ;  but  their  children  and 
grandchildren  reaped  the  fruits  of  their  labor  and  lived  in 
peace  and  plenty  under  the  ?egis  of  liberty. "^^ 

Another  phase  and  a  different  kind  of  colonial  settlement 
Sealsfield  pictures  to  us  in  Die  Deutsch-Amerikanischen  Wahl- 
verwandtschaften.  He  had  spent  several  years  in  New  York 
and  in  the  New  England  states  and  had  witnessed  there  much 
of  the  life  of  fashionables,  a  caste,  the  accepted  members  oi 
which  either  traced  their  ancestry  back  to  the  Mayflower  and 
to  the  early  Dutch  settlers,  or  w^ere  but  newly  initiated  par- 
venues.  Part  III,  Chapter  VII,  of  this  work,  entitled  ''History 
of  the  Rambles/'  traces  the  lineage  of  the  main  characters  in 
the  novel.     It  begins: 

"Both  belonged  to  our  high  Dutch  noblesse,  one  of  those 
historical  races  which  will  ever  be  the  ornament  and  pride  of 
our  country,  whatever  be  its  fate,  for  it  is  one  of  those  genea- 
logical trees  which  first  spread  their  shade  over  this  land.  They 
did  not  invade  it  at  the  head  of  murderous  bodies,  the  sabre 
in  one  hand  and  the  firebrand  in  the  other,  to  doom  the  poor 

11  Cf.  Rattermann,  H.  A.,  Die  Mississippi-Seifenblase. — Cf.  Baird, 
Robert,  Viezv  of  the  Vallev  of  the  Mississippi,  p.  48,  who  calls  this 
iindertakinp:  "the  Mississippi  scheme"  or  "bubble." — Today  we  still  use 
both  terms. 

i2Andree,  Karl,  Nord-Amerika,  pp.  487-488.  tells  us  that  a  Scotch- 
rran  by  the  name  of  Law,  who  was  one  of  the  Mississippi  company,  had 
obtained  permission  to  establish  a  dukedom  on  the  Arkansas  river.  He 
meant  to  settle  it  with  nine  thousand  Swiss  and  Germans.  "Two 
thousand  of  the  latter  were  imported  in  the  year  1716-17,  but  were 
landed,  some  in  the  unhealthy  Mississippi  delta,  some  near  Biloxi,  where 
they  were  left  without  food  or  shelter.  Most  of  them  were  snatched 
away  by  fever  ;  only  few  returned  to  their  fatherland.  Approximately 
three  hundred,  who  settled  in  the  year  1722  in  the  district  of  the  Atta- 
capas  (S'ealsfield's  two  Cotes  des  Allenwnds) ,  prospered." — Cf.  Deiler, 
Hanno,  The  Settlement  of  the  German  Coast  of  Louisiana. 

40  


POUTICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

Indians^^  to  slavery  or  to  compel  them  to  the  construction  of 
castles  and  towers  for  their  government  and  control.  No,  our 
ancient  Dutchmen  were  too  prudent  to  act  the  part  of  lords 
and  lieges  in  heroic  tumult.  They  had  crossed  the  water 
with  more  modest  intentions.  As  peaceful  Dutchmen  they 
wanted  to  exchange  money  for  hides  and  skins,  or  perhaps  to 
domesticate  themselves  comfortably,  as  well  becomes  vener- 
able Dutchmen — to  smoke  a  pipe,  raise  children,  and  drink 
their  genevre — in  a  word,  to  introduce  Dutch  civilization, 
which  they  accomplished  leisurely  and  to  their  heart's  desire, 
since  they  had  an  abundance  of  time  and  space". ^* 

"And  why  should  they  destroy  the  poor  Indians,  who  were 
to  them  useful  and  convenient  for  exchanging  their  genevre'^^ 
for  the  skins  of  beavers^^  and  martens,  which  was  one  of  the 
well  known  designs  of  their  visit  and  settlement. ^^  Altogether, 
the  ancient  Dutchmen  were  a  desirable  people,  far  from  being 
imperious  and  aristocratic ;  but  on  the  contrary  more  republic^ 
an  in  their  ideas  than  their  northern  neighbors,  the  Yangheese, 
as  the  Indians  styled  them,  or  as  they  called  themselves,  the 
pious  fathers,  wanderers,  pilgrims  of  Plymouth,  who,  to  con- 
fess the  truth,  had  brought  with  them  into  the  wilderness  an 
odious  taste  of  British  pride  and  plebeian  tyranny,  so  that  they 
immediately  became  embroiled  with  the  poor  savages  in  strife 
and  quarrels,  which  resulted  in  conflicts  and  murder  and 
slaughter,  in  true  Scotch  and  English  style.  No,  your  Dutch- 
is  They  met  with  one  of  the  five  tribes  of  the  Iroquoian  confedera- 
tion, the  Mohawk,  who  by  this  time,  although  there  were  still  some 
Algonquian  tribes  dispersed  amongst  them,  occupied  the  entire  east  of 
the  state  of  New  York,  extending  into  the  southeast  corner. — Cf.  Morg- 
an, Louis,  League  of  the  Iroquois.    2  maps. 

14  Cf.  Van  Buren,  Augustus  H.,  Proceedings  New  York  Historical 
Society,  v.  XI,  p.  133,  who  describes  these  Dutch  settlers  with  the  fol- 
lowing words :  "Most  of  them  could  neither  read  nor  write.  They 
were  a  wild,  uncouth,  rough  and  most  the  tim.e  a  drunken  crowd  .  .  . 
they  were  afraid  of  neither  man,  God,  nor  the  devil." 

15  It  is  surprising  how  readily  the  natives  subjected  themselves 
economically  to  the  white  man. 

16  Goodwin,  Maud  W.,  Dutch  and  English  on  the  Hudson,  p.  18. 
"The  manifest  of  one  cargo  mentions  7246  beavers,  675  otters,  48  minks, 
and  36  wildcats." 

1'''  Cf.  Heckewelder,  John,  Indian  Nations,  pp.  76-82. 

41  ■ 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

men  were  a  different  set  of  people,  anxious  from  the  first  to 
establish  amicable  relations  with  their  somewhat  blunt  neigh- 
bors;  they  were  indefatigable  in  their  exertions  to  change  the 
wild  insolence  of  the  native  redskins  to  their  own  good  humor. 
Hence  they  adopted  a  mode  of  intercourse  far  different  from 
the  posts  and  forts  of  the  warlike  Yankees.  In  lieu  of  cannon, 
blunderbusses,  royals  and  muskets,  they  placed  their  bulky 
casks  of  genevre,  from  which  they  willingly  gave  potations  to 
the  fierce  redskins,  when  they  brought  the  skins  of  beavers  and 
bears,  or  at  least  of  foxes  and  deer,  the  latter  of  which,  how- 
ever, were  equivalent  to  but  a  small  draught  of  the  animating, 
precious  fire  water — truly,  a  very  humane  principle!  And  the 
application  of  which  one  might  conjecture  was  productive  of 
the  most  beneficial  results  on  the  neighboring  Indians ;  and  we 
are  sorry  to  confess  that  the  breach  of  it,  or  the  gift  of  larger 
potations,  was  more  fatal  to  the  poor  savages  than  the  blunder- 
busses of  the  pious  pilgrims.  But  still  there  was  a  freedom 
of  action,  and  this  process  of  colonization  and  civilization 
evinced  a  higher  degree  of  information  and  humanity,  a  vigor- 
ous, guiding  idea,  before  which  the  poor  Indians  vanished, ^'- 
it  is  true,  but  which  would  have  been  creditable  even  in  our 
enlightened  day. 

"We  love,  even  at  the  expense  of  a  short  deviation,  to 
extricate  such  bold,  guiding  ideas  from  the  intricate  webs  of 
the  history  of  humanity,  and  to  present  them  to  the  eyes  of  the 
present  generation ;  thus  humbling  a  little  our  pride,  by  which 
we  might  be  persuaded  to  think  that  we  have  invented  all  wis- 
dom, while  our  ancestors  not  only  worked  before  us,  but  laid 
the  foundation  of  all  the  grandeur  which  signalizes  us  among 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth.     As  the  germ  of  the  acorn  not 

1^  Although  no  one  will  doubt  that  the  worst  crime  which  white 
men  committed  against  the  aborigines  was  the  sale  of  fire  water*),  we 
do  not  believe  they  vanished  on  that  account.  The  Iroquois  Indians 
left  their  territory  to  seek  fur-bearing  lands.  Having  found  those  they 
came  back  with  immense  loads  of  animal  skins,  wihich  they  traded  main- 
ly for  fire  water  and  firearms,  only  to  set  out  again  conquering  and  an- 
nihilating one  tribe  after  another. 

*)  Cf.  Schoolcraft,  Henry  R.,  The  Red  Race  of  America,  pp.  353- 
365.  (The  influence  of  ardent  spirits  on  the  condition  of  North  Amer- 
ican Indians.) — Cf.  Blair,  E.  H.,  Indian  Tribes,  v.  I,  p.  208. 

42 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

only  contains  the  elements  of  the  limbs  and  the  leaves,  but  also 
of  the  root,  the  future  support  of  the  mighty  oak — so  in  tlie 
good-natured  features  of  the  founders  of  these  New  Nether- 
lands our  present  Empire  State,  and  especially  the  moneyed 
men  of  the  present  day,  slumbered  in  embryo." 

Now  the  author  goes  back  to  the  year  1610  or  1620  when 
Claas  Ramble  is  supposed  to  have  had  a  dream  in  which  the 
Lord  urged  him  to  send  his  eldest  to  America  where  he  can 
gain  riches  by  trading  fire  water  for  furs  and  hides.  Brom 
Ramble  came  to  New  Amsterdam^^  with  good  recommenda- 
tions to  high  magistrates  and  diverse  mynheers,  and,  ''backed 
by  a  choice  selection  of  the  precious  Schiedam,"  he  was  soon 
installed  as  commandant  of  a  fort.  "The  location  of  this  fort 
was  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  present  Sixth  Avenue ;  it  was 
armed  with  two  musketoons,  one  battle  axe,  three  sabres,  four 
lances,  and  one  wheel  arquebuse,  but  more  especially  with 
eleven  gin  casks,  real  Schiedam."  Brom  was  the  youngest  of 
twenty-two  sentinels  wlio  had  their  forts, -^  or  rather  log  liouses, 
for  such  they  really  were,  on  all  weak  points  of  the  Dutch 
territory  open  to  the  invasion  of  the  redskins.  But  the  family 
chronicles  tell  us,  that  after  the  eighteenth  month  of  Brom 
Ramble's  stay  there  the  Indians  had  withdrawn  from  that 
region.  Two  years  later  Brom  was  removed  still  higher  up 
the  river,  and  thus  he  advanced  six  times  in  ten  years,  and 
finally  settled  in  the  vicinity  of  the  present  Sing  Sing. 

But  as  the  old  European  nobility  obtained  their  titles  and 
honors  in  battle,  so  Brom  was  to  receive  his  highest  rewards 
in  a  feud  vrith  rival  settlers.  "A  gang  of  Yankees,  descend- 
ants of  the  pious  Pilgrims,  had  located  themselves,  or  rather 
squatted,  in  the  region  of  West  Point,  within  the  province  of 
the  New  Netherlands,  without  even  asking  permission  of  the 
high  authorities.  The  new  settlers,  far  from  the  accustomed 
humility  and  modesty  of  pious  pilgrims,  were  firm  in  the  belief 

1'*  New  Amsterdam  was  not  founded  until  1626. 

-0  Goodwin,  Maud  W.,  Dutch  and  English  on  the  Hudson,  p.  18. 
"In  establishing  this  fur  trade  with  the  savages,  the  newcomers  primar- 
ily required  trading  posts  guarded  by  forts." 

43  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

of  their  Bible,  but  far  from  agreeable — nay, — they  were  a 
desperate  people,  prone  not  only  to  treat  the  good  Dutchmen 
as  Philistines,  and  to  introduce  peculiar  practices  regarding  the 
mine  and  thine — two  vital  points  among  the  Dutch — ^but  also 
to  deride  them  and  seriously  injure  their  commerce  with  the 
Indians."  Mynheer  Ramble,  at  the  head  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  Dutchmen,  drove  them  beyond  the  limits  of  the  state. ^^ 
As  a  reward  he  received  the  entire  acreage  held  by  the  Yankees, 
and  in  1645  also  the  burgomastership  of  New  Amsterdam.  He 
was  married  and  was  honored  with  two  sons.  One  traveled 
in  the  footsteps  of  his  father,  and  the  other  sided  with  the 
English,  his  father's  enemy,  and  hurt  the  honest  Dutchman 
whenever  he  was  able  to  do  so.  The  older  branch  prospered, 
the  younger  lost  all  honor  and  respect.  Only  Ramble  the  VT 
of  the  younger  line  proved  that  he  was  a  chip  of  the  old  block. 
He  went  into  partnership  with  one  Patrick  Kennedy  in  a  lunch 
and  liquor  "joint."  Improvements  were  made  and  Brom 
prospered,  for  Pat  had  sold  out  to  him,  and  Fly-market  Porter- 
house became  "the  most  frequented  establishment  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Maiden  Lane." 

"The  rumor,  too,  that  the  young  host,  a  descendant  of  a 
noble  family  of  historical  fame,  had  laid  aside  his  pedigree  for 
a  while,  with  a  view  of  serving  the  sovereign  people  in  a  true 
democratic  manner,  was  a  great  auxiliary  to  his  success,  and 
the  more  so  since,  the  shares  in  our  noblesse  being  at  their 
lowest  ebb,  democracy  had  taken  possession  of  the  people's 
throne  with  full  sovereignty."  And  in  a  true  American  way 
he  changed  his  political  views  to  suit  his  customers.  "He  had 
the  faculty  of  throwing  out  his  canting,  dry  witticisms  and 
ideas,  at  the  expense  of  democracy  when  only  aristocrats  were 
present,  and  then  turning  the  same  witticisms  against  aristo- 
crats or  federals  when  only  democrats  honored  him  with  their 
presence."     In  the  course  of  time  he  had  become  rich  and 

21  This  particular  dispute  between  the  Yankees  and  Dutch  seems  to 
be  fictitious ;  yet  there  were  repeated  quarrels  in  which  the  Dutch  some- 
times used  the  Indians  against  the  English*),  as  the  English  used  Iro- 
quoian  tribes  against  Illini  Indians  and  the  French. 

*)   Cf.  Buchanan,  James,  North  American  Indians,  v.  II,  p.  114. 

44  


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

thereby  rose  in  the  estimation  of  the  other  branch  of  the  fam- 
ily, which  was  still  in  possession  of  the  land  wrested  from  the 
Yankees.  He  was  invited  to  a  dinner — and  four  weeks  later 
he  married  a  daughter  of  the  older  line.  Both  belonged  to  the 
New  York  fashionables ;  the  one  represented  the  old  aristo- 
cracy, the  other  the  new  moneyocracy.^^  The  Porterhouse 
thus  accomplished  for  the  younger  branch  of  the  family  what 
the  fort  log-house  had  done  for  the  older. 

~2  According  to  Murray's  English  dictionary  (v.  VI,  pt.  2)  this 
word  was  first  used  in  1834  in  Blackzvood's  Edinburgh  Magazine,  v. 
XXXV,  p.  339.  The  article  in  question  appeared  in  March.  Sealsfield 
used  the  word  moneycracy  in  Morton  (pt.  II,  p.  117),  which  he  wrote 
the  same  year. 


45 


Chapter  II. 

RELATION  OF  THE  INDIANS  TO  THE  WHITE 

RACE. 

On  the  whole  the  colonization  of  North  America  was  not 
accomplished  by  as  much  bloodshed  as  one  would  suppose. 
This  is  due  chiefly  to  the  immigrants,  who  did  not  shrink  from 
toiling  themselves  where  they  might  have  forced  the  native 
savage  into  slavery.  The  historians  Heinrich  Steffens^  and 
Heeren^  recognize  in  this  peculiar  way  of  settlement  the  source 
of  the  persevering  strength  necessary  to  fight  the  obstinate 
climate  and  the  savage  nature  of  the  original  inhabitants,  in 
short,  that  trait  of  character  which  laid  the  cornerstone  for 
an  edifice  that  was  destined  to  exist  for  ages  to  come. 

How  the  trappers,  the  backwoodsmen,  the  first  rangers 
and  planters  had  to  suffer,  and  how  they  guarded  themselves 
against  destruction  with  the  exertion  of  all  their  strength,  we 
shall  see  later.  For  the  present  we  shall  return  to  the  ab- 
origines to  see  how  they  faced  the  danger  which  the  advance 
of  the  white  race  brought  to  them.     It  is  a  pathetic  picture 

1  Steffens,  Heinrich,  Die  gegenzvdrfige  Zcii,  pt.  II,  p.  324  ff.  "The 
fact  that  here  civil  liberty  thrived  so  advantageously,  is  based  upon  the 
spirit  of  the  time,  out  of  which  the  state  formed  itself,  together  with 
the  manner  of  its  development.  Never  had  colonies  grown  in  sucli  a 
peaceful  way,  entirely  without  significant  wars,  and  in  so  domestic  a 
manner  as  those  of  North  America.  In  the  extensive  lands  the  weak 
tribes  roamed  about;  they  were  driven  away,  rather  than  conquered 
through  warfare.  Therefore,  that  belligerent  character,  that  severity 
and  seriousness  of  mind  did  not  appear,  but  neither  did  they  develop 
an  ennobling  sense.  The  Europeans  who  arrived  there  had  all  the 
wants  of  their  educated  countrymen,  but  they  possessed  also  the  ability 
to  satisfy  them.  When  in  primitive  times  rough  heroes  took  possession 
f)f  countries,  the  subjugated  peoples  had  to  work  the  fields — here 
possession  and  labor  were  united.  The  possessors  themselves  had  to 
conquer  the  rough  climate,  clear  the  forests,  and  cultivate  the  fields 
they  had  won." 

-  Heeren,  A.  H.  L.,  Europe  and  its  Colonies,  v.  I,  p.  121. 

46  


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

which  Sealsfield  unfolds  before  us.  Discussing  the  inexor- 
able fate  which  aw-aited  these  unfortunate  children  of  nature, 
he  says  in  the  introduction  to  Dcr  Legitime,  addressed  to  A.  J. 
Smith,  Esq.,  Daughin  Co.,  Pennsylvania,  pp.  1 — 5  : 

"The  painful  sensations  with  which  we  left  M— e  and  the 
sick-bed  of  the  honorable  statesman,  upon  which  he  was 
throw^n  under  the  burden  of  false  accusations — thus  being 
lorn  in  such  a  shameful  w^ay  from  the  glorious  path  for  which 
he  was  born — had  made  you  at  the  time  less  receptive  to  the 
suffering  of  a  people,  which  even  in  its  present  condition  of 
political  and  moral  degeneration,  permits  us  to  suspect  such 
a  wonderful  coloring.  You  have,  however,  justified  in  a 
marvellous  way  the  expectation  that  these  late  impressions 
would  not  pass  you  unnoticed,  and  the  hope  that  the  sup- 
pressed and  maltreated  race  would  finally  be  secure  against 
hostile  operations,  and  would  continue  to  live  in  its  new 
abodes,  has  now  become  stronger  than  it  ever  has  been.  I, 
too,  am  of  the  opinion  which  you  have  so  often  uttered  from 
the  orator's  platform  and  in  your  writings,  tliat  this  people, 
if  any  longer  in  warfare  against  the  greed  of  our  border  popu- 
lation, will  be  entirely  annihilated,'  that  it  cannot  continue 
to  live  thus,  and  that  in  case  of  its  stay,  at  the  best  only  the 
so-called  chiefs  and  their  relatives  and  some  few  strong  char- 
acters can  be  won  over  to  our  citizenship — but  that  the  rest 
will  unavoidably  sink  ever  deeper  and  deeper,  and  will  have 
to  be  degraded  to  that  scum,  which  burdens  so  many  countries 
of  the  old  world.  I  agree  with  you  completely:  the  remnants 
of  this  interesting  people  can  only  be  saved  if  they  are  trans- 
])orted  again  upon   the  soil  of  tlieir  primitive   forests,  which 

^  It  is  commonly  thought  that  the  Indians  living  today  are  only  a 
very  small  percentage  of  the  number  that  inhahitcd  North  America 
when  the  white  man  came.  This  is  wrong.  All  information  gathered 
seems  to  point  to  the  fact  tliat  there  never  existed  more  than  several 
hundred  thousand  Indians.  Yet,  it  is  douhtful  whether  this  were  true, 
had  the  Federal  government  not  hcen  more  humane  than  the  English 
Colonial  Legislature,  which  on  the  25th  of  February,  1745,  passed  an 
act  giving  rewards  for  Indian  scalps,  and,  oh,  horror!,  in  1722  the 
government  of  Massachusetts  raised  the  reward  from  forty  to  one 
hundred  pounds  for  one  scalp!  Buchanan,  James,  North  Am-erican 
Indians,  v.  I,  p.  19. 

47  -— 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

agrees  with  them,  and  if  through  immediate  contact  with 
related  tribes  their  sapless  nationality  will  be  refreshed,  and 
their  degenerated  customs  become  ennobled,  but  above  all — 
they  must  be  torn  from  the  disastrous  contact  with  the  glaring 
avarice  of  our  squatters  and  shop-keepers.  But  nevertheless 
the  fate  of  this  unhappy  people  remains  lamentable,  and  great 
is  the  pain  which  the  stronger  souls  amongst  them  must  suffer 
regarding  the  separation  from  the  land  in  which  they  and 
their  fathers  were  bom.  Some  time  ago  I  saw  a  division  of 
these  migrators  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Yazoo  River,  when 
they  were  just  ferried  across  the  Mississippi.*  The  poorer 
ones  were  everywhere  immersed  in  their  customary  apathy. 

They  uttered  neither  joy  nor  pain,  although  the  maintenance 
they  received  during  their  exodus  was  excellent.  The  chiefs 
and  the  wealthier  families  seemed  to  succumb  to  the  burden 
of  their  sorrow.  It  was  a  painful  sight  to  see  them  staring 
across  upon  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Mississippi;  some 
stretched  out  their  hands  toward  it.  During  the  march  from 
their  native  woods,  so  the  commissioners  told  me,  they  turned 
every  thousand  steps  and  looked  back  upon  the  mountains  and 
plains^  which  they  were  leaving,  and  became  more  sinister  and 
disconsolate  every  hour.  Some  carried  the  bones  of  their 
parents,  they  being  the  most  valued  treasure,  in  order  to  con- 


4  President  Jackson  in  a  message  to  Congress  in  1831  stated  that 
Congress  had  appropriated  one-half  million  dollars  for  the  voluntary 
removal  of  Indians.  Darby,  William,  Geographical  Description  of 
Louisiana,  v.  II,  p.  84,  quotes  from  an  "Address  to  the  American 
people,"  by  George  W.  Hawkins,  chief  of  the  Choctaw  tribe,  printed 
in  the  "Natchez."  ".  .  .  it  is  said  that  our  present  movements  are  our 
own  voluntary  acts  .  .  .,  such  is  not  the  case.  We  found  ourselves,  like 
a  benighted  stranger,  following  false  guides  until  he  was  surrounded 
on  every  side  with  fire  or  water.  .  .  .  Painful  indeed  is  the  mandate 
of  our  expulsion.  .  .  .  Let  us  alone.  We  will  not  harm  you.  We  want 
rest.  We  hope  in  the  name  of  justice,  that  another  outrage  may  never 
be  committed  against  us ;  and  that  we  may  for  the  future  be  cared  for 
as  children,  and  not  driven  about  as  beasts,  which  are  benefited  by  a 
change  of  pasture." 

t»  Cf .  Schoolcraft,  Henry  R.,  The  Red  Race  of  America,  p.  381, 
speaking  of  Creek  Indians  being  removed,  says :  ".  .  .  and  they  had  left 
the  southern  slopes  and  sunny  valleys  of  the  southern  Alleghanies  with 
*a  longing,  lingering  look'." 

48  


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

sign  them  to  the  earth  of  their  new  dweUing  places.  The  scene 
was  so  much  more  melancholy,  since  one  could  not  guard 
against  the  oppressive  thought  that  while  we  open  our  country 
to  the  dregs  and  adventurers  of  the  old  world,  we  should 
drive  the  last  original  possessors  of  the  soil,  which  truly  clung 
to  their  native  woods  after  most  of  their  neighbors  had  al- 
ready given  way,  out  into  the  wild  darkness  of  the  prairies — 
only  to  satisfy  the  avarice  of  the  children  and  grandchildren 
of  the  very  same  fathers  whom  they  once  sheltered  hospitably 
in  their  huts.  In  truth  the  great  sage^  had  good  reasons  to 
express  his  gloomy  prophetic  admonitions,  and  the  longer  I 
ponder  over  the  destiny  of  this  pitiable  race,  the  more  I  too, 
begin  to  fear.  Since  that  trip  I  have  occupied  myself  much 
with  this  people  and  its  manners  and  institutions,^  and  it  ap- 
peared to  be  no  thankless  enterprise,  to  speak  to  the  minds 
of  our  fellow-citizens  in  a  worthy  manner  through  a  historical 
presentation  of  one  of  the  great  characters  of  the  time  when 
they  began  to  become  more  disproportionate  to  our  people." 

How  loathsome  it  was  for  the  Indians  to  withdraw  into 
the  regions  assigned  to  them  by  the  government,  and  how 
they  bore  the  injustice  of  the  white  race  partly  with  murmur 
and  ill  humor,  partly  with  cold  resignation,  but  how  it  gnawed 
at  their  hearts,  and  hurt  above  all  their  leaders,  we  hear  from 
the  lips  of  Tokeah,  who  in  this  novel  is  the  last  chief  of  the 


6  He  doubtless  refers  to  Thomas  Jefferson's  words  quoted  as  the 
motto  to  Dcr  Legitime:  "I  tremble  for  my  people  when  I  think  of  the 
injustice  which  it  has  committed  against  the  first  inhabitants."  Jeffer- 
son was  often  called  the  sage  of  his  time. — Cf.  Schurz,  Henry  Clay, 
V.  I,  p.  127. 

"^  Where  personal  observation  of  the  Muscogeans  did  not  suffice, 
he  says  in  the  introduction  to  Der  Legitime,  he  obtained  information 
from  books  such  as  "McKenney's  Tour  to  the  Chippewas  and  More's 
Account  of  the  Indians'  (McKenney,  T.  L.,  Sketches  of  a  Tour  to  the 
Lakes  .  .  .,  and  Morse's  Indian  Report).  Especially  the  first  work  fur- 
nished material  on  customs  and  manners.  Since  the  Indians  are  not  a 
part  of  the  American  nation,  (Cf.  article  in  the  Chicago  Daily  News  of 
March  20,  1920,  "Indians  fit  to  Fight,  but  not  to  Cast  Vote")  there 
shall  be  no  occasion  to  enter  into  a  deeper  discussion  of  the  red  man 
in  the  second  part  of  this  study,  where  national  types  are  delineated. 

49  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

Oconee,  then  the  main  tribe  of  the  Creek.'"*  '^"The  great  spirit 
has  made  large  spiders  in  the  land  where  the  chief  lived,  and 
one  of  them  can  kill  a  little  bird.  The  spiders  said  to  the 
birds :  'See,  we  will  let  you  alone  and  will  not  break  with  you; 
but  you  must  not  tear  our  webs.'  The  poor  birds  remained  in 
their  nests  and  sat  before  them  a  long  while.  Hunger  finally 
drove  them  out,  but  as  they  wanted  to  fly  up,  they  found  all 
the  woods  covered  with  the  nets  of  the  spiders,  and  the  poor 
birds  fell  into  the  snares  and  were  devoured  by  the  poisonous 
spiders,  or  had  their  blood  sucked  out  and  thus  died  a  slow 
death.  The  red  men  are  the  poor  birds,  the  white  men  the 
spiders,  llieir  tribes  were  many.  They  have  disappeared 
from  tlie  face  of  the  earth.  They  died,  many  through  the 
long  knives  of  the  white  men,  but  still  more  through  their 
cunning  and  their  fire  water.  Tokeah  wants  to  go  far  away 
from  them."^" 

Tokeah,  the  noble  chieftain,  who  reveals  the  entire  mag- 
nitude of  his  soul  to  his  daughter  Cannondah  and  to  the 
White  Rose,  a  girl  whom  he  had  snatched  from  a  savage  after 
she  had  already  been  destined  to  die,  grieves  himself  to  death 
over  the  fate  of  his  race.  He  and  the  most  worthy  of  his 
tribe,  who  could  not  endure  to  live  among  the  white  men, 
wandered  westward  to  settle  there  and  to  unite  with  the  rem- 
nants of  some  other  tribes  and  thus  to  counteract  complete 
annihilation.  Shortly  after  Lafitte,  w4io  plays  an  important 
role  in  Der  Legitime,  had  burned  the  settlement  of  the  Oconee, 
because  Tokeah  had  broken  his  oath  of  friendship  after  dis- 

^  The  Oconee  once  inhabited  the  banks  of  the  Oconee  river  in 
Georgia,  where  Sealsfield  correctly  puts  their  abode  before  they  ex- 
changed it  for  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi  River.  But  he  probably 
confused  the  name  Oconee  with  Oconi,  an  ancient  Creek  town  in 
Georgia,  when  he  called  them  a  Creek  tribe.  See  Hodge's  Handbook 
of  American  Indians,  pt.  H,  p.  105. 

^Legitime,  pt.  HI,  p.  277. 

1^  Cf .  a  large  and  varied  collection  of  addresses  and  newspaper  and 
magazine  articles  in  Brothers,  Thomas,  The  United  States  of  North 
America. 

Cf.  Heckewelder,  John,  Indian  Nations,  pp.  76-82. 
50  


POUTICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

covering  that  Latitte  was  but  a  common  pirate/^  the  Great 
Spirit  appeared  to  the  chief  and  demanded  that  he  go  to  his 
former  land  (Georgia)  and  fetch  the  bones  of  his  forefathers 
before  the  plough-share  of  the  white  settlers  would  unearth 
them.  Now,  he  and  some  of  his  most  faithful  followers,  set 
out  to  visit  the  distant  beloved  land.  It  touches  one's  heart 
to  read  how  stoically  they  bore  their  pains. ^-  But  before  they 
re-enter  the  wilderness,  they  are  stopped  by  white  men,  are 
accused  of  spying  and  consequently  imprisoned — it  is  at  the 
time  of  the  second  war  with  Britain.  Now  we  must  not  wonder 
if  Tokeah  gives  expression  to  his  bitter  anger  with  the  follow- 
ing words^^* :  "You  are  scoundrels!  Your  tongues  speak  of 
things  of  which  your  hearts  know  nothing.  You  tell  us,  we 
shall  love  our  neighbors,  while  they  take  our  furs,  our  cattle, 
our  land,  and  expel  us  into  the  desert." 

Sealsfield,  however,  does  not  maintain  that  the  white  race 
had  no  right  to  drive  out  the  redskins.  No,  he  knew  the 
history  of  mankind  better  than  to  be  unaware  of  the  fact  that 
it  is  the  natural  course  of  events.^"'     The  less  civilized  must 

iiAIarryat,  Frederick,  Diary,  Ser.  II,  v.  1,  p.  249.  "The  early  his- 
tory of  the  Mississippi  is  one  of  piracy  and  buccaneering;  its  mouths 
were  frequented  by  these  marauders,  as  in  the  bayous  and  creeks  they 
found  protection  and  concealment  for  themselves  and  their  ill-gotten 
wealth.  Even  until  after  the  war  of  1814  these  sea-robbers  still  to  a 
certain  extent  flourished,  and  the  name  of  Lafittc,  the  last  of  their 
leaders,  is  deservedly  renowned  for  courage  and  for  crime;  his  vessels 
were  usually  secreted  in  the  land-locked  Bay  of  Barataria,  to  the  west- 
ward of  the  mouth  of  the  river." 

Flint,  Timothy,  Recollections,  p.  253. — Cl.  Brown,  S.,  Western 
Gazetteer,  p.   141. 

1^*  Herder's  Idcen,  pt.  I,  p.  293.  "The  North  American  (he  is 
speaking  of  the  Indians)  suffers  tortures  and  pain  with  a  heroic  im- 
perceptil)ility  out  of  principles  of  honor;  he  was  educated  to  this  from 
youth,  and  women  do  not  lag  behind  the  men  in  this.  Stoic  apathy, 
therefore,  in  physical  pain  too,  becomes  one  of  nature's  habits,  and  their 
lessened  stimulus  for  sensuousness  along  with  otherwise  brisk  natural 
strength,  even  that  placid  apathy  which  has  sunk  man}'  a  subjugated 
nation  apparently  in  a  day-dream,  seem  to  be  due  to  this  cause." 

^^  Der  Legitime,  pt.  Ill,  pp.  150-151.— Cf.  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  I,  p.  46. 

^4  Flint,  Timothy,  Mississippi  Valley,  p.  107.  "They  are  not  the  less 
objects  of  our  pity  and  of  our  untiring  benevolence,  because  the  causes 
of  their  decay  and  extinction  are  found  in  their  own  nature  and  char- 
acter, and  the  unchangeable  order  of  things.  It  is  unchangeable,  as  the 
laws  of  nature,  that  savages  should  give  place  to  civilized  men,  possessed 

51   


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

attach  himself  to  the  civiUzed  in  order  to  reach  by  and  by  the 
same  level  of  culture,  or  he  must  make  room  for  the  superior 
power  of  civilization,  either  by  leaving  his  dwelling  place  or  by 
perishing  miserably.  ^'''"Barbarism  must  always  give  way  in 
the  fight  against  enlightenment,  just  as  night  yields  to  day; 
but  you  have  the  means^^  in  hand  to  attach  yourself  to  this 
enlightenment,  and  to  enter  into  our  civilian  life.  If  you  do 
not  want  this,  however,  and  if  you  prefer  to  be  savages  (lyegi- 
time)  instead  of  honored  citizens,  then  you  must  not  quarrel 
with  fate,  which  throws  you  away  like  toys,  after  you  have 
run  through  your  nocturnal  course." 

Not  only  judging  from  the  position  of  those  who  support 
their  arguments  by  "might  is  right,"  but  also  from  the  stand- 
point of  ethics,  Sealsfield  justifies  the  removal  of  the  primitive 
inhabitants.  ^^"'Tokeah,  the  Great  Spirit  has  made  the  earth 
for  the  white  and  red  men  that  they  may  plough  it,  and  work 
on  it,  and  live  from  her  fruits ;  but  he  has  not  made  her  for 
a  hunting  ground,  that  some  hundred  red  men  may  occupy  a 
place  in  lazy  existence,  upon  which  millions  could  live  and 
thrive  happily. ^^     If  you  will  clear  the  landed  property  which 

of  the  strength,  spirit  and  improvement  of  the  social  compact." — The 
writer  does  not  quite  agree  with  this  view ! 
'^^  Der  Legitime,  pt.  Ill,  p.  281. 

16  Great  sums  were  expended  annually  to  educate  the  Indians  and 
to  teach  them  trades.  Ardy,  E.  S.,  J  oiirnal,  v.  II,  p.  76,  mentions  thirty- 
two  schools  with  nine  hundred  and  sixteen  pupils. 

Henni,  Johann  Martin,  Thai  des  Ohio,  pp.  26-27,  claims  that  the 
Indians  cannot  be  effectively  civilized,  and  sees  the  reason  for  this  in 
the  fact  that  they  are  not  living  through  the  herdsman  stage,  but  are 
expected  to  advance  from  hunters  to  agrarians. 

17  Der  Legitime,  pt.  Ill,  pp.  278-280. 

18  Hodgson,  Adam,  Letters,  v.  II,  Appendix. — Opinion  of  Hon.  J. 
Q.  Adams,  Esq.,  on  Indian  titles.  "There  are  moralists,  who  have 
questioned  the  right  of  Europeans  to  intrude  upon  the  possessions  of 
the  aborigines  in  any  case,  and  under  any  limitations  whatsoever.  But 
have  they  maturely  considered  the  whole  subject?  The  Indian  right 
of  possession  itself  stands,  with  regard  to  the  greatest  part  of  the 
country,  upon  a  questionable  foundation.  Their  cultivated  fields ;  their 
constructed  habitations ;  a  space  of  ample  sufficiency  for  their  sub- 
sistence, and  whatever  they  had  annexed  to  themselves  by  personal 
labor,  was  undoubtedly,  by  the  laws  of  nature,  theirs.  But  what  is  the 
right  of  a  huntsman  to  the  forest  of  a  thousand  miles  over,  which  he 
has  accidentally  ranged  in  quest  of  prey?     Shall  the  liberal  bounties 

52  • 


POUTICAL  AND  SOCIAI.  CONDITIONS 

you  still  possess,  and  which  is  still  as  large  as  many  a  kingdom 
of  the  old  world,  where  several  millions  happily  live  and 
prosper,  then  you  can  be  richer  and  happier  than  any  equal 
number  of  citizens  of  the  United  States." 

In  order  to  be  fair  to  the  white  race  and  especially  to  the 
government,  we  must  take  care  not  to  assume  that  the  natives 
were  always  unjustly  compelled  to  migrate  and  pitch  their 
tents  somewhere  else.  No,  often  they  were  paid  considerable 
sums^^  for  their  lands  and  were  then  assigned  new  territory 
west  of  the  Mississippi.  But  the  money  paid  out  to  the  chiefs 
was  ill-used.  "If  you  chieftains,"  we  read  in  one  of  Seals- 
field's  vv'orks,"'^  "divide  the  money  which  you  receive  as  an- 
nual pay  for  your  renounced  land  amongst  yourselves  and 
give  your  people  several  dollars  at  the  most,  and  then  permit 
them  to  starve — and  if  you  thus  degrade  them  to  the  scum, 
and  force  them  to  beg  for  their  bread  at  the  doors  of  our 
citizens,  and  to  roll  about  in  the  mire  of  the  street,  instead  of 

of  Providence  to  the  race  of  man  be  monopolized  by  one  of  ten  thou- 
sand for  whom  they  were  created?  Shall  the  exuberant  bosom  of  the 
common  mother,  amply  adequate  to  the  nourishment  of  milHons,  be 
claimed  exclusively  by  a  few  hundreds  of  her  offspring?  Shall  the 
lordly  savage  not  only  disdain  the  virtues  and  enjoyments  of  civiliza- 
tion himself,  but  shall  he  control  the  civilization  of  a  world?  Shall  he 
forhid  the  wilderness  to  blossom  like  a  rose?  Shall  he  forbid  the  oaks 
of  the  forest  to  fall  before  the  axes  of  industry,  and  rise  again,  trans- 
formed into  the  habitation  of  ease  and  elegance?  Shall  he  doom  an 
immense  region  of  the  globe  to  perpetual  desolation,  and  hear  the  bowl- 
ings of  the  tiger  and  the  wolf,  silence  forever  the  voice  of  human  glad- 
ness ?  Shall  the  fields  and  the  valleys,  which  a  beneficient  God  has 
framed  to  teem  with  the  life  of  innumerable  multitudes,  be  condemned 
to  everlasting  barrenness  ?" 

Cf.  Vattel,  Emerich,  Law  of  Nations,  used  at  West  Point  as  Duke 
Bernhard  tells  us,  Keise,  near  end  of  Chapter  IX. 

1^  Jefferson,  IVritings,  v.  IV.  Observations  on  the  article  £tats  Unis, 
January  22,  1786,  "and  it  may  be  taken  for  a  certainty  that  not  a  foot  of 
land  will  ever  be  taken  from  the  Indians  w-ithout  their  consent.  The 
sacredness  of  their  right  is  felt  by  all  thinking  persons  in  America  as 
much  as  in  Europe."  But  how  does  this  letter  compare  with  the  follovv'- 
ing:  "Feb.  27,  1803,  to  the  Governor  of  Indians.  "The  Cahokias  Ijeing 
extinct,  we  are  entitled  to  their  country  by  our  own  paramount  sover- 
eignty. The  Peorias,  we  understand,  have  all  been  driven  from  their 
country,   and  we  might  claim  it  in  the  same   way." 

^0  Dcr  Legitime,  pt.  Ill,  pp.  279-280. 

53  — 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

taking  care  of  them,  to  win  them  for  culture  and  to  support 
them — then  you  must  not  blame  these  citizens  when  they  get 
tired  of  such  company.  I  know  you  chiefs.  You  are  such  blood- 
suckers of  your  people  as  any  profligate  tyrant  of  the  old  world 
can  be." 

This  money,  which  the  chiefs  for  the  most  part  kept  to 
themselves,  enticed  many  a  white  man  to  marry  the  daughter 
of  a  chieftain,  because  he  thus  gained  both  a  certain  wealth 
as  well  as  respect  amongst  the  redskins.-^  The  author  seems 
to  think  that  it  was  a  policy  of  the  government  to  denationalize 
the  Indians  through  these  marriages,--  and  perhaps  he  was 
justified  in  making  this  statement,  which  greatly  resembles  the 
views  expressed  in  the  transactions  of  one  of  the  societies  for 
promoting  the  general  welfare  of  the  Indian  tribes  in  the 
United  States,-^  and  also  those  of  Jefferson  in  a  letter  to  Ben- 
jamin Hawkins,  an  Indian  agent.-'' 

Sealsfield,  in  truth,  v/itnessed  a  spectacle  which  in  the  old 
w'orld  had  presented  itself  some  three  thousand  years  previous. 
Then  also  the  hunters  were  the  vanguard  of  primeval  civiliza- 
tion, on  whose  trails  the  nomadic  tribes,  and  finally  the  front- 
iersman, turning  to  primitive  agriculture,  follow^ed.  The 
transition  from  the  earliest  forms  of  human  civilization  to  the 
subsequent  stages,  which  in  the  old  world  occupied  centuries, 
was  not  un frequently  accomplished  on  the  new  continent  dur- 
ing a  few  decades.     This  acceleration  of  the  historical  process 

-1  Raiimer,  P'riedrich  von,  Die  I  'crcinigicn  Staatcn  von  Nordamcri- 
ka,  V.  I,  p.  297,  tells  us  that  white  men  married  Indian  girls  for  the 
money  which  they  received  from  the  government. 

"Drr  Legitime,   pt.    Ill,   pp.   232-233. 

-•^  Morse's  Indian  Report,  \).  75.  "Let  tlie  Indians,  tlierefore,  be 
taught  all  1)ranches  of  knowk^jge  pertaining  to  civilized  man  ;  then  let 
intermarriage  with  them  l)cc()me  general,  and  the  end  which  the  gov- 
ernment has  in  view  will  be  completely  attained." — Quoted  in  Hodgson, 
A.,   Letters,  v.   II,  Appendix. 

24  Jefferson,  Writings,  v.  VIII,  p.  214  (1803).  "The  ultimate  point 
of  rest  and  happiness  for  them  is  to  let  our  settlements  and  theirs  meet 
and  blend  together,  to  intermix,  and  become  one  people.  Incorporating 
themselves  with  us  as  citizens  of  the  United  States,  this  is  what  the 
natural  process  of  things  will,  of  course,  bring  on,  and  it  will  be  better 
to  promote  than  to  retard  it." 

54  


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

is  due  chiefly  to  the  fact  that  the  history  of  the  human  race 
was  repeated  in  this  country  by  the  descendants  of  the  highly 
developed  civilization  of  Europe,  and  not  re-enacted  by  prim- 
itive man.  On  the  whole,  however,  the  fundamental  forces 
which  govern  the  growth  of  human  civilization  everywhere, 
were  at  work  in  this  country  also :  man's  struggle  with  nature, 
his  attempt  to  establish  social  organizations,  the  mutual  rela- 
tions and  conflicts  of  the  social  groups  developed  by  these  or- 
ganizations, and  finally  man's  striving  for  the  ideal. 


OD 


Chapter  III. 

GREAT   HISTORICAL    EVENTS:    REVOLUTIONARY 

WAR,   LOUISIANA  PURCHASE,   SECOND  WAR 

WITH  ENGLAND,  AND  TEXAS  REVOLUTION. 

THREE  GREAT  STATESMEN. 

So  much  for  the  fight  with  the  internal  enemy,  nature  and 
savages.  Meanwhile  the  time  had  come  when  the  colonial 
settlers  could  feel  themselves  strong  enough  to  revolt  against 
their  mother  country,  which  had  already  oppressed  them  too 
long.  This  uprising  of  the  colonists,  who  had  obtained  moral 
and  physical  strength,  marked  the  beginning  of  their  future 
happiness.  It  is,  according  to  Sealsfield,  justified  by  the  fact 
that  the  Americans  were  fighting  for  their  inborn  rights — he 
maintains  that  every  man  is  born  free^ — and  against  insolent 
oppressors.  The  author  says :  ^"When  citizens  who  are  quiet, 
peaceful,  proud  of  their  liberty,  jealous  of  their  innate  rights, 
and  oppressed  in  their  fatherland  by  political  and  religious 
prosecution,  turn  from  it  in  order  to  enjoy  the  rights  which 
are  contested,  and  when  they  are  tired  of  being  encroached 
upon — when  they  and  their  descendants,  and  their  children 
and  grandchildren  clear  the  wilderness,  ever  fighting  with  wild 
animals  and  even  wilder  men ;  when  under  their  tireless  hands 
there  are  created  verdant  plains,  comfortable  houses,  and  rich 
cities;  when  com,munities  gradually,  through  lawfulness  and 
diligence,  develop  into  states,  and  advance  in  enlightenment 
and  domestic  arts ;  and  when  they  in  the  consciousness  of  their 
power  long  to  give  laws  to  themselves,  instead  of  receiving 
them  from  the  distant  mother  country ;  when  they  yearn  to 
use  the  fruits  of  their  labor,  the  savings  of  their  wives  and 
children  for  the  good  of  their  own  country,  instead  of  wasting 
them  on  a  distant  and  extravagant  aristocracy  for  never-end- 

^  Morton,  pt.  I,  p.  58. 
2  Virey,  pt.  I,  pp.  295-296. 

56 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

ing  projects  and  wars;  when  such  citizens,  the  most  con- 
scientious and  prudent,  put  their  shoulder  to  the  wheel,  and  are 
the  first  to  stand  in  the  gap,  and  let  their  will  become  deed, 
and  arise  to  fight  for  their  innate  rights : — then  these  states 
and  the  struggle  for  their  freedom,  this  society  and  the  revo- 
lution, through  which  they  tear  themselves  loose  from  the 
mother  country"  will  be  quite  different  from  the  rebellion  of  a 
people,  which  revolts  only  to  quench  its  thirst  for  revenge.^ 

Although  this  step  in  the  national  progress  of  the  Amer- 
ican people  was  taken  by  violence  and  force,  it  was  their  most 
sacred  duty;  for  home  and  children  are  closer  to  a  man  than 
a  distant  government,  which  demands  his  savings — not  to  use 
them  for  the  good  of  the  country,  but  to  squander  them.  It 
was  not  a  revengeful  act  which  won  liberty  for  his  country : 
No,  it  was  the  determined  will  to  regain  innate  rights. 

During  the  discussion  between  Colonel  Morse  and  the 
Alcalde,  who  is  Sealsfield's  spokesman  in  the  character  of  an 
early  western  settler,  a  man  with  his  own  philosophy  of  history, 
of  life,  and  of  religion,  we  hear  the  following:  ^"The  wheel 
of  the  world  in  its  rapid  course  is  not  moved  by  dwarfs,  but 
by  giants.  In  its  powerful  revolutions  it  crushes  the  weak; 
the  strong  overpower  it  and  guide  it."  The  divine  spark  of 
liberty  had  inflamed  the  hearts  of  all  and  kindled  an  all- 
devastating  fire  in  the  'Votten  tinder  of  prescriptive  despotism." 
These  words  may  be  applied  in  connection  with  the  Revolu- 
tionary War  just  as  Sealsfield  used  them  speaking  of  the  up- 
rising of  the  Texans. 

How  much  the  brave  fighters  had  to  suffer,  we  hear  in 
the  deep-felt  words  of  Colonel  Isling,-^  who  had  come  to  Amer- 
ica with  a  Hessian  infantry  regiment,  was  taken  prisoner,  and 

3  Sealsfield's  idea  embodied  in  Vircy: — Although  Mexico  has  a  con- 
stitution she  is  not  free,  for  she  obtained  liberty  through  a  caprice.  Her 
inhabitants  are  free  like  a  herd  of  choleric  horses,  who  escaped  through 
the  carelessness  of  a  servant ;  free — until  they  feel  the  lasso  around 
their  neck  again. 

^  Kajiitcnbuch,  pt.  II,  p.  115. 

5  Colonel  Isling,  probably  a  fictitious  character,  at  least  a  fictitious 
name,  for  J.  G.  Rosengarten  mentions  no  such  name  in  his  various 
studies  on  German  soldiers  in  the  revolution. 

57  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

finally,  like  so  many  other  Germans,  fought  for  his  new  country 
and  suffered  for  and  with  it.  ®'*  'Alas,  the  first  days  which  T 
spent  in  the  service  of  the  Union  were  dark  .  .  .  Yes,  things 
looked  black  at  the  time  when  I  entered  the  formations  of  the 
American  warriors,  these  fighters  in  a  sacred  war.  Alas,  our 
sufferings  were  terrible!  When  I  think  of  the  battle  of  the 
Brandywine !  ...  It  was  a  heart-rending  sight.  The  entire  road 
from  the  Brandywine  up  to  Germantown,  over  to  Morris- 
town — one  terrible  field  of  blood — blood,  not  from  those  de- 
ceased— no,  from  the  living — fresh  and  healthy.  It  was  freez- 
ing weather  like  today — it  was  frightfully  cold,  and  in  the 
entire  army  there  were  not  a  thousand  pairs  of  shoes. '^  The 
men  had  to  march  on,  without  shoes  and  socks,  on  the  hard- 
frozen  street,  which  only  became  soft  through  their  blood. 
And  the  men  did  not  murmur.  Indeed,  we  suffered  terribly 
at  that  time ;  but  we  did  not  complain,  for  our  sufferings  were 
interwoven  with  high  and  great  emotions.  What  are  the  wars 
of  today,  the  wars  of  Napoleon,  compared  with  this  holy  war ! 
This  war,  which  like  the  manger  of  Bethlehem,  will  bring  ?. 
more  beautiful  future  for  humanity  in  recompense  for  the 
sufferings  of  thousands  of  years.'  With  these  words  the  Colonel 
turned  his  eyes  heavenward  again.  'And  the  men  who  carried 
on  this  war — such  men  they  were!  What  are  the  heroes  of 
antiquity  compared  with  these  magnificent  and  yet  so  plain 
characters?  Those  were  divine  hours!  Indeed,  divine  hours, 
young  man.'  He  took  off  his  hat,  and  while  he  held  it  in  his 
hand,  he  looked  as  though  his  glance  wanted  to  penetrate  the 
heavens.  The  young  man  had  followed  his  example,  and  even 
the  oarsmen  stopped  with  bent-over  bodies.  'Washington  and 
Green,  and  LaFayette,  that  wonderful  Frenchmen !  and  Steu- 
ben, the  magnificent  Prussian !  And  DeKalb,  the  kind,  good- 
natured  DeKalb!   They  were  men  innocent  as  children.'" 

<'^  Marfan,  pt.  I,  pp.  79-81. 

■^  Cf.  Jefferson,  Writings,  v.  II.  p.  466,  to  Mjijor-General  Baron 
Steuben  in  Council  February  24th.  '81 — "Sir,  I  have  received  repeated 
information  that  the  nakedness  of  the  militia  in  service  near  Wmsburo- 
and  want  of  shoes  is  such  as  to  have  produced  mnrniurinefs  almo'^t 
amounting  to  mutinies,  and  that  there  is  no  hope  of  beiuR  able  longer 
to  keep  them  in  service." 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

Officers  as  well  as  enlisted  men  suffered  great  privations ; 
even  the  General's  staff  was  satisfied  with  the  very  least.  The 
quarters  of  the  chief  and  his  staff  were  usually  in  a  barn  ;  they 
were  not  elegant  quarters  with  generals  abounding  in  gold, 
with  staff  officers,  and  with  all  th.e  luxury  of  an  arrogant 
soldiery  of  some  monarch,  *^"Thcre  was  need  of  the  most 
necessary  commodities,  but  especially  of  gold,  and  still  worse, 
the  colonics  groaning  in  pains  of  labor,  had  no  credit.^  But 
at  that  time  noble  France  raised  her  \oicc,  and  lent  an  arm 
to  the  brave  lighters,  whose  strength  was  almost  exhausted." 
'■'"Yes,  they  were  days  of  sorrow,  those  days  of  '80  and  '81. 
when  the  fathers  of  the  new  liberty  looked  over  toward  the 
East,  with  hearts  sickened  by  anxiety  and  fear!  Their  arms 
were  almost  lamed,  their  swords  had  become  dull  in  the  live 
years'  struggle.  I'hey  fought  like  men ;  but  even  men  will 
finally  fall  before  a  greater  power;  and  that  power  was  ter- 
rible. Noble  France  then  raised  her  powerful  voice,  and  like 
a  sister  held  out  her  hand  to  the  exhausted  swimmer — the 
worn-out  warrior."  That  the  thirteen  stars  at  that  time  rose 
victoriously  through  the  clouded  skies,  we  may  still,  without 
diminishing  our  own  greatness,  thank  that  great  nation.  Yes, 
mankind  may  thank  her  for  it."^- 

Tlie  war  was  fmally  won.  The  colonics  had  freed  them- 
selves from  their  mother  country— freed,  politically  only; 
commercially  they  remained  dependent  u])on  Great  Britain  for 
a  good  many  years.     There  were  no  industries  to  speak  of. 

'"^  Morion,  pi.  L  p.  82. 

^  Billow,  D.  von.  Dcr  Frcistaat  von  Nord-Amcrika,  v.  \,  p.  76,  states 
that  in  1779  American  money  was  worth  onc-tcntli  of  its  nominal  vahir. 

10  Ralph  Dougiihy,  p.  50. 

11  Cf.  Carpenter,  W.  H.  History  of  Neiu  York,  "Vcrgennes,  actuated 
less  by  a  love  of  liberty  than  by  a  desire  to  sever  from  Great  Britain 
her  noblest  dependencies,  expressed  his  willingness  to  enter  upon 
treaties  of  friendship  and  commerce  and  of  defensive  alliance.  On  the 
Sth  (6th!)  of  February(1778)thcse  treaties  were  concluded." — The  text 
of  the  treaty  is  appended  in  Dubuisson,  Paul  Ulrich,  Abrege  dc  la  Re- 
volution dc  rAnicrique  Angloise  .  .  .  par  M***,  Americain,  n.  p.  1778. 

1-  For  an  account  of  the  first  federal  government,  its  dissolution, 
the  convention  of  1787,  and  the  new  constitution,  see  Fflanzcrlcbcn,  pt. 
IT,  pp.  142-145. 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

and  there  was  no  money  to  establish  them.  The  states  were 
poor,  the  inhabitants  were  poor.  The  misery  prevailing  amongst 
the  people  was  inconceivable.  Colonel  Isling  describes  a  stretch 
of  land  in  Pennsylvania  with  the  following  words :  ^^''There 
were  caves,  not  even  huts,  without  doors  and  windows,  built 
of  untrimmed  logs,  chimneys  made  of  rocks  placed  upon  each 
other,  inhabited  by  men  who  resembled  savages  more  than 
citizens  of  a  great  republic,  which  had  just  freed  itself  from 
the  most  powerful  nation  in  the  world;  during  the  winter 
clothed  in  hides ;  blackened  with  smoke  and  soot,  during  the 
summer  half  naked.  Everybody  congregated  there — Amer- 
icans, Englishmen,  Scotch,  Irishmen,  but  above  all,  Germans." 
England  out  of  pure  derision, — because  she  knew  that  the 
young  Republic  had  no  money, — gave  her  one  banquet  after 
another,  and  the  poor  guests  could  not  even  feast  her  in  return. 
Now  a  German,  General  Steuben,  gave  proof  of  the  stuff  of 
which  he  was  made.  He  sold  all  jewelry  and  family  silver 
to  banquet  the  enemies  of  his  adopted  fatherland.^*  "Wonder- 
ful Steuben !     He  died,  and  the  country  remained  his  debtor." 

The  next  great  historical  event  discussed  in  the  works  of 
Sealsfield  is  the  Louisiana  purchase. ^'^  He  considers  the 
Louisiana  territory  the  cradle  of  a  large  western  empire, 
"which  the  tireless  hand  of  man  will  erect  there."  It  is  ex- 
tremely important  to  see  what  a  wonderful  future  some  trav- 
elers of  Sealsfield's  time  predicted  for  the  Mississippi  valley."^*' 

i^  Morton,  pt.  I,  p.  122. 

14  This  seems  to  be  fiction.  Steuben  communicated  little  with  his 
relatives  in  Prussia,  and  was  most  probably  not  in  possession  of  family 
silver  and  jewelry.  He  lived  in  comparatively  mediocre  circumstances 
and  was  often  obliged  to  appeal  to  Congress  for  back  pay.  In  fact  the 
government  never  did  reward  him  fairly  for  his  services  as  drill  master 
of  the  entire  revolutionary  forces.  Although  he  possessed  little,  he  was 
kind  and  generous.  The  eulogy  chisseled  into  a  stone  plate  on  the 
Lutheran  Church  in  Nassau  Street,  New  York,  ends  with  the  following 
words  :  "His  hands,  open  as  day  to  m.elting  charity,  closed  only  in  the 
grasp  of  death." — Cf.  Kapp,  Friedrich,  Steuben's  Lehcn,  pp.  526-546. 

15  In  Der  Legitime,  pt.  II,  p.  125,  Sealsfield  gives  briefly  the  history 
of  this  territory. 

1*"' Duke  Bernhard,  Reise,  v.  II,  p.  121,  believes  that  St.  Louis  will 
some  time  be  the  metropolis  of  a  large  empire.  Duke  Bernhard  had  in 
mind  a  separation  of  the  western  states  such  as  Aaron  Burr  had  con- 

60  


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

Our  author  is  interested  in  the  ethnic  study,  although  he  fully 
realizes  the  commercial  importance  of  the  purchase.^'' 

Surely  it  must  be  interesting  to  observe  how  this  trans- 
ference affects  the  inhabitants  of  the  ceded  territory.  Will 
there  be  conflicts  between  them  and  the  Americans,  who  are 
of  such  a  different  nature,  or  will  they  intermarry  readily? 
In  the  second  part  of  this  work,  where  different  national 
types  are  characterized,  there  will  be  an  opportunity  to  treat 
this  question  more  fully.  May  the  following  excerpt  suffice 
for  the  present.  It  tells  us  of  Louisiana's  (the  state's)  rela- 
tion to  the  United  States  during  the  first  ten  years,  especially 
at  the  time  of  the  second  war  with  England.  ^^"Although 
the  change  which  was  experienced  by  the  inhabitants  of 
Louisiana  on  account  of  her  union  with  the  States  was  con- 
siderable, it  could  only  be  noticed  in  a  greater  activity  in  mak- 
ing land  arable  and  in  commercial  enterprises ;  the  colonists 
of  former  days  took  little  or  nothing  of  the  manly,  independent 
spirit  of  the  Americans ;  their  slavishly  ruined  spirit  had  with- 
drawn from  the  superior,  more  enlightened  northern  citizen, 
who,  it  is  true,  often  expressed  this  superiority  too  rudely  and 
without  restraint.  Even  the  better  class  of  Creoles  was  not 
immune  to  the  prejudice  against  their  new  fellow  citizens, 
and,  comparing  their  situation  with  that  of  the  sharply  out- 
lined and  straight-forward  American,  they  were  so  much 
more  displeased  with  their  position  since  they,  being  indiffer- 
ent to  public  life  because  they  were  used  to  compulsory  service, 

templated.  Yet  the  desire  to  have  the  national  capital  in  the  Mississippi 
valley  did  not  vanish.^Cf.  Reavis,  L.  U..  A  change  of  national  empire; 
or  arguments  in  favor  of  the  removal  of  the  national  capital  from 
Washington  City  to  the  Mississippi  valley.  St.  IvOiiis,  Missouri,  1869. — 
Marryat,  Frederick,  Diary,  Ser.  II,  v.  I.  p.  156.  "What  will  be  the  con- 
sequence, when  the  western  states  become,  as  they  assuredly  will,  so 
populous  and  powerful,  as  to  control  the  Union?" — Heeren.  A.  H.  L.. 
Europe  and  its  Colonies,  v.  II,  p.  187.  "What  a  prospect  for  the  future." 
— ^Grund,,  Francis,  Die  Aristokratie  in  Amerika,  pt.  II,  p.  237.  "The 
West,  not  the  East,  turbid  with  European  vision,  is  destined  finally  to 
rule  the  country." — Etc.,  etc. 

17  Die  Vereinigten  Staaten,  p.  160.  "Only  this  purchase  can  give  to 
the  American  merchant  an  independence  and  patriotism  which  he  did 
not  possess  till  now." 

^^Der  Legitime,  pt.  II,  pp.  134-135. 

61  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

predicted  only  disorder  and  anarchism  in  the  new  boundless 
liberty.  But  since  these  fears  were  not  realized  during  the 
ten  years  of  this  unrestrained  freedom,  and  since  they  gradual- 
ly learned  to  appreciate  the  advantages  which  resulted  from 
the  union  with  this  powerfully  thriving  republic,  they  attached 
themselves  with  more  determination  to  the  common  interest, 
and  did  not  hesitate  to  contribute  to  the  defence  of  the  country. 
This  was  the  better  class ;  the  lower  class  of  inhabitants  to 
which  these  advantages  appeared  to  be  disadvantages,  could 
scarcely  hide  their  joy  over  the  arrival  of  the  enemy;  and  they 
hated  much  more  the  northern  citizens  who  looked  down  upon 
chem  with  arrogance  than  they  hated  the  English  whose  com- 
ing they  expected  to  result  in  a  change  and  humiliation  of 
the  proud  republicans." 

Thus  we  have  arrived  at  the  war  of  1812-1814.  This 
war  serves  as  a  substratum  for  Der  Legitime.  James  Hodges, 
one  of  the  main  characters,  is  midshipman  on  a  British 
frigate,  which  had  entered  the  Mississippi  delta.  He  loses  his 
way  during  a  fishing  and  hunting  expedition,  and  reaches 
Tokeah's  settlement.  After  a  stay  of  about  a  week  he  at- 
tempts flight,  dressed  in  Indian  costume.  The  Americans 
take  him  prisoner  and  accuse  him  of  having  concluded  alli- 
ances with  Indian  tribes  (as  history  records  repeatedly). 
Now  we  have  an  opportunity  of  seeing  a  militia  battalion  drill 
to  enter  the  lines  of  combat.  Let  us  look  at  them  through  the 
eyes  of  our  Briton.  He  sees  men  and  boys  dressed  in  old 
garments,  equipped  very  poorly,  and  maneuvering  most  awk- 
wardly. He  smiles  as  he  becomes  doubly  sure  of  victory  on 
the  British  side.  But — they  begin  rifle  practice,  and  things 
look  different.  The  first  man  cries :  "second  from  the  top,"  and 
hits  the  nail  at  which  he  aimed  from  a  distance  of  fifty  feet. 
After  dark,  candles  are  extinguished  in  the  same  manner. 
Now  James  Hodges  is  less  optimistic,  and  still  less  so  after 
he  sees  the  morale,  enthusiasm,  and  determination  of  the 
American  soldiers.  In  the  third  part  of  the  novel  we  hear 
the  last  decisive  battles  being  fought  at  a  distance.    The  victors 


62 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

return  and  rejoice  over  having  gained  a  second  time  what  Eng- 
land begrudged  them — freedom  of  the  seas. 

Now  the  Texas  revolution  in  the  years  1834-1836.  A 
chapter  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  pages  in  the  Kajutenhuch, 
entitled  Der  Krieg,  gives  a  detailed  description  of  the  rebellion. 
But  before  we  come  to  this  chapter  we  know  that  something 
is  about  to  happen.  Colonel  Edward  Alorse  tells  us  how  the 
Alcalde  confided  to  him  the  fact  that  the  Mexican  province 
of  Texas  was  preparing  to  secede.  The  Alcalde  does  every- 
thing in  his  power  to  influence  the  jury  not  to  condemn  a 
dangerous  criminal  by  name  of  Bob  Rock,  and  after  his  at- 
tempts have  been  in  vain  he  secretly  cuts  the  rope  by  which 
the  murderer  is  suspended  from  a  live-oak.  He  needs  this 
rufhan  in  the  approaching  revolution,  when  he  shall  atone  for 
his  crime  by  serving  his  country  to  gain  liberty.  It  would 
not  be  fair  to  apply  our  ideas  of  right  and  wrong  to  a  civiliza- 
tion which  is  as  different  from  ours  as  night  from  day.  The 
worth  of  a  man's  life  depends  upon  its  usefulness  to  society. 
The  Alcalde  expresses  this  very  clearly  in  the  following 
words^'^ :  "Here  a  man's  life  is  worth  twice  as  much  as  up  in 
the  States  and  twenty  times  as  much  as  in  old  England,  where 
it  has  scarcely  any  value  at  all,  and  where  a  fellow  is  hanged 
for  stealing  a  sheep. -^'  He  could  steal  liere  an  entire  herd 
of  cattle  and  would  be  whij^ped  at  the  most." 

A  man  of  the  western  plains  lives  a  life  different  from  that 
of  an  easterner.  He  is  forced  to  do  so  by  the  very  nature  of 
the  country;  but  he  also  looks  at  things  differently.  It  seems 
that  the  clear,  ]rare  atmosphere  of  the  desert  and  prairie  land 
gives  a  wider  range  to  liis  vision  and  makes  him  feel  himself 
closer  to  his  Creator,  enabling  him  to  cast  a  glance  into  the 
works  of  God.  Again  the  Alcalde:  -'"But  in  the  prairie  .  .  . 
you  perceive  things  in  quite  a  different  light  than  in  towns,  for 
cities  are  built  by  the  hands  of  man,  and  poisoned  by  man's 

^■^  Kajiiti'iibitch,  pi.  I,  p.  222. 

-*^Cf.  Archcnholz,  J.  W.  v.,  Aunalcn  drr  hritischru  Gcschichtc,  1790, 
V.  V,  p.  150. 

-'^  Kajutenhuch,  pt.  I,  pp.  207-208;   Cf.  Und,  pp.  208-209. 

03  -— 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

breath ;  but  the  prairies  are  created  by  God's  hand,  and  an- 
imated by  His  spirit.  And  this  pure  spirit  enhghtens  wonder- 
fully your  view,  which  becomes  so  sad  in  the  smoke  of  cities. 
It  is  a  beautiful  thing,  this  enlightening,  when  the  corrupt, 
pestilential  smoke  disappears,  and  you  can  look  to  the  very 
bottom  of  truth,  and  can  see  how  the  great  Regent  above 
makes  use  of  the  most  desperate  elements  for  his  most  beauti- 
ful and  magnificent  works,  even  of  incarnate  devils  who  rage 
there  as  if  they  were  just  emerged  from  hell." 

And  these  incarnate  devils  are  needed  to  v/in  battles,  and 
make  history,  "for  states  and  empires  are  not  founded  from 
the  pulpit  nor  from  the  lecture  desk — they  are  founded  on 
the  battlefield — through  open,  brutal  force."  In  the  same 
way  the  Normans,  pirates  as  they  were,  defeated  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  and  thus  laid  the  foundation  to  one  of  the  largest 
empires  of  the  world  by  inocculating  them  with  a  goodly  degree 
of  rapaciousness  and  pugnacity. ^^ 

Now  to  the  description  of  the  war  itself.  Here  Sealsfield 
depicts  historic  scenes,  some  of  which,  "for  example  the  skirm- 
ish on  the  Salado  River,  the  siege  of  Bexar,  the  decisive  battle 
near  Louisburg,  are  taken  from  the  state  archives  at  Wash- 
ington," as  the  author  tells  us  in  the  introduction  to  the  Cabin 
book.^"  In  these  prefatory  remarks  our  attention  is  directed 
to  the  historic  value  of  the  novel.  Sealsfield  intends  to  ^*"por- 
tray  to  the  world  the  history  of  the  period  (the  book  appeared 
in  1841)  and  its  most  important  momenta  in  vivid,  plastic 
pictures."  Such  a  historical  event  he  has  pictured  in  the 
Cabin  book.  "The  instant  of  founding  a  new  Anglo-Amer- 
ican state  upon  Mexican  soil,  the  moment  where  the  Germanic 

22  Ibid.,  pt.  I.  The  Normans  and  their  history  and  influence  upon 
the  English  character  seem  to  be  a  hobby  of  the  Alcalde.  This  again 
shows  that  Sealsfield  was  influenced  in  his  history  of  philosophy  by 
Herder,  who  in  his  Ideen,  p.  372  ff.,  v380,  515  ff.,  attaches  much  import- 
ance to  the  advantageous  mixture  of  Norman  and  Anglo-Saxon  blood, 
which,  significant  even  in  a  distant  future,  has  given  the  English  people 
its  characteristic  features. 

23  A  statement  somewhat  doubtful!  Cf.  Kajiitenhuch,  pt.  II,  p.  117. 
— Cf.  Ehrenberg,  H.,  Fahrten  und  Schicksale  eines  Deutschen  in  Texas. 

24  Kajiitenhuch,  Introduction,  p.  8. 

64 


POUTICAL  AND  SOCIAIv  CONDITIONS 

race  has  once  more  made  way  for  herself  at  the  cost  of  the 
mixed  Roman  race,  and  has  carried  out  the  founding  of  a 
new  Anglo-American  state.  They  were  the  roughest  leather- 
jackets  who  harbored  the  w^armest  hearts,  the  most  iron  will, 
who  wanted  great  things,  and  who  obtained  these  great  things 
with  the  smallest  means,  who  obtained  religious  and  political 
freedom,  who  founded  a  new  state,  which,  how  unimportant 
it  may  seem  at  present,  is  certainly  destined  for  great  things. "^^ 

The  student  of  history  is  well  aware  of  the  fact  that  in 
former  times  such  wars  established  hereditary  monarchies : 
the  strongest,  the  commanders  were  not  only  crowned  with 
the  wreath  of  victory,  but  with  the  crown  of  sovereignty  as 
vvell.^^  Here  the  state  attached  itself  to  the  Union,  and  thus 
became  a  member  of  a  great  democracy. 

So  far  there  are  three  outstanding  figures  in  the  political 
history  of  the  United  States :  Washington,  Monroe,  Jefferson. 
The  former  is  heralded  as  the  hero  of  the  revolution,  the  gen- 
eral who  led  the  colonies  to  victory  and  thiis  freed  them  from 
the  English  yoke.  At  the  very  beginning  of  his  Vereinigte 
Staaten,  Sealsfield  enters  upon  Washington's  principles  as  to 
relations  with  other  powers.  He  considers  them  the  only 
means  by  which  the  states,  which  already  are  an  "interesting 

^olbid.,  pt.  II,  p.  115. 

26  Cf .  Herder,  Ideen,  pt.  I,  pp.  377-378.  "Other  reasons  must  have 
been  present  which  introduced  hereditary  monarchies  amongst  men, 
and  history  does  not  conceal  these  reasons  :  Who  gave  Germany  her 
governments,  who  gave  them  to  civilized  Europe?  War.  Nomadic 
hordes  and  barbarians  invaded  that  continent,  their  commanders  and 
nobility  divided  the  land  and  the  people  amongst  themselves.  Thus 
originated  principalities,  fieves ;  thus  cam.e  into  existence  the  villanage 
of  subjugated  peoples.  The  conquerors  were  the  possessors,  and  what- 
ever changes  have  taken  place  since  that  time,  they  were  always  decided 
through  revolution,  war,  agreement  of  the  powerful ;  always  we  notice 
the  right  of  the  strong.  By  this  royal  path  history  marches  on,  and 
facts  of  history  cannot  be  denied.  What  subjected  the  world  to  Rome? 
Greece  and  the  Orient  to  Alexander?  What  founded  all  great  mon- 
archies as  far  back  as  Gesostris  and  the  joyous  Semiramis,  and  what 
shattered  them?  War.  Violent  conquest  took  the  place  of  law,  which 
later  became  law  through  superannuation,  or,  as  our  teachers  of  politic- 
al science  call  it,  through  a  silent  contract,  but  the  silent  contract  in  this 
case  is  nothing  but  that  the  stronger  takes  what  he  pleases  and  that  the 
weaker  gives  or  suffers  what  he  cannot  alter." 

65  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

spectacle  for  the  thinking  world,"  could  obtain  independence, 
power,  and  wealth.  The  Monroe  doctrine  goes  a  step  farther. 
It  makes  known  that  the  Union  will  not  sufifer  intervention 
of  any  sort  in  South  American  affairs.  This  act  Sealsfield 
considers  the  certificate  of  majority.  -""Her  (the  Union's) 
infancy  is  over.  The  nation  has  reached  the  year  of  majority. 
»She  has  felt  it  and  has  put  it  before  the  eyes  of  the  world. 
In  the  statement  of  President  Monroe  in  his  message  of  1824 
.  .  .  .  the  nation  has  expressed  her  views  and  she  has  the 
means  in  hand  to  make  her  words  effective  if  she  desires." 
But  now,  Jefferson :  He  is  proclaimed  the  disciple  of  Democ- 
racy— the  first  democratic  president,  a  man  whom  the  author 
admired,  whose  works  he  studied,  and  whose  views  he 
preached.  A  conversation  between  the  Alcalde  and  Colonel 
Morse-'^  concerning  this  great  statesman  goes  as  follows: 
"  'J^ffc^'so",  if  he  still  lived,  would  not  have  much  pleasure 
in  the  fruits  of  his  democracy'.  .  .  .  'He  would  have  all  the 
pleasure  .  .  .  which  a  man  can  have  who  sees  the  principles 
which  he  carried  out  with  an  iron  hand  increase  luxuriantly 
— perhaps  a  little  too  luxuriantly.  Our  people's  principle  of 
sovereignty,  d'ye  understand,  wants  pruning,  like  a  tree  shot 
up  too  fast;  but  to  him  belongs  the  glory  of  having  raised  it. 
True,  he  is  wished  to  the  bottom  of  hell  for  it  by  our  would-be 
aristocrats;  no  wonder!  He  overturned  their  apostles,  the 
Hamiltons  and  Adamses — went  the  whole  hog  with  them.  But 
'twas  necessary,  most  necessary  with  people  who  carried  them- 
selves so  egotistically  as  the  federals  of  that  time,  who  thought 
the  revolution  was  only  fought  for  them,  and  that  the  millions 
had  staked  property  and  life  in  order  to  exchange  the  English 
yoke  for  theirs ;  and  they  would  have  succeeded,  I  tell  you, 
had  it  not  been  for  Jefferson.  But  Jefferson  was  vigilant, 
and  though  Jefferson  had  his  faults  as  a  man,  as  a  statesman 
he  was  one  of  the  greatest  that  ever  ]:>ut  his  hand  to  the  ship 
of  state.  Never  has  anyone  so  entirely  comprehended  the 
s])irit  of  democracy,  her  nature,  her  fructifying  power,  and 

-"  Die  Vcrcinigtcn  Staaten,  Introduction. 
-^  Kajiitenhuch,  pt.  I,  pp.  179-180. 

—  m 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

brought  the  triumphal  chariot  of  man  to  advance  so  fast.  The 
United  States  owe  it  to  him  that  they  will  be  in  less  than 
fifty  years  the  greatest  nation  on  the  earth,  that  already  they 
are  spread,  and  firmly  rooted,  over  half  the  world.  It  was  he 
who  opened  to  the  people  the  sluices  and  dams  in  which  the 
Hamiltons  and  the  Adamses  thought  to  pen  them.  Was  just 
the  man  we  needed  then  ;  his  was  the  true  principle.'  " 

We  have  seen  how  the  colonists  redeemed  the  land  with 
the  plough,  and  how  they  kept  what  they  had  gained  through 
never-ceasing  toil  and  hardship.  Then  they  felt  strong  enough 
to  revolt  against  additional  burdens  laid  upon  them  by  their 
mother  country.  They  were  victorious  and  thus  established 
political  freedom.-'^  But  what  is  this  political  freedom  com- 
pared with  their  social  liberty !  Their  common  sacrifices 
brought  common  rewards.  All  became  free  men,  masters  over 
themselves,  with  no  one  above.  liistory  had  never  before 
seen  such  an  example,  at  least  not  on  so  large  a  scale.  The 
Squire,  one  of  the  main  characters  in  the  last  part  of  Der 
Legitime,  expresses  this  to  James  Hodges  in  the  following 
words:  "We  have  made  our  conquests  from  a  few  hundred 
thousand  Indians,  and  with  our  plow ;  the  first  disappeared 
through  their  own  guilt,  the  second  conquest  makes  all — all 
who  are  willing  to  work — independent  men,  who  can  and  shall 
have  a  word  to  say  in  matters  of  their  country. "^*^ 

29  Dr;-  legitime,  pt.  II,  p.  249. 
30 /tu/.,  pt.   III,  p.  296. 


Chapte:r  IV. 
LIBERTY  AND  EQUALITY. 

The  two  wars  with  England  had  not  only  liberated  the 
states  politically,  but  had  also  laid  the  corner  stone  for  social 
freedom  of  the  country.  All  had  helped  to  throw  off  the  yoke 
— all  should  eat  of  the  fruits  of  civil  liberty. 

Were  the  Americans  ready  for  this  liberty?  Could  they 
enjoy  it  sensibly?  Or  did  the  goddess  of  liberty  answer  the 
beckoning  of  a  people  that  could  not  hold  her?  In  the  fifth 
chapter  of  Pflanzerlehen,  entitled  in  the  English  translation 
Uncle  Sam  and  his  Democracy,  we  read  the  following  answer : 
^"No !  The  great  book  of  the  past,  and  even  of  the  present, 
shows  on  every  page  that  the  goddess  of  liberty  is  not  a  light, 
flower-encircled  coquette,  with  whom  poets  and  malicious 
fanatics  amuse  our  senses — a  voluptuous  beauty,  who,  in  a 
burst  of  passion  gives  herself  up  to  the  first  ruffian  she  en- 
counters. She  is  a  stern  w^oman,  advanced  in  years,  with  a 
motherly,  nay,  even  a  severe  countenance;  with  a  bonnet  on 
her  head  resembling  the  southwester  of  a  mariner,-  and  refer- 
ring less  to  grace  and  to  elegant  manners,  than  unwearied 
exertions ;  a  pious  dame,  averse  to  folly  and  play,  matron-like, 
watchful  night  and  day,  ever  glancing  suspiciously  around  her, 
guarding  her  hearth  and  household,  and  always  conscious  of 
her  dignity.  Uninvited  she  enters  your  domicile,  if  in  you 
she  beholds  the  virtues  she  esteems;  but  turns  her  back  on 
you  at  the  instant  you  heed  not  her  warning  voice,  and  roll 
the  burden  of  your  household  on  the  shoulder  of  a  hireling."^ 

1  Pflan::crlehen,  pt.  I,  pp.  281-282. 

2  This  is  "Liberty"  as  she  appears  on  contemporary  coins. 

3  Cf .  Brauns,  E.  L.,  Ideen,  p.  753.    "There  one  obtains  liberty,  which 
is  the  most  precious  possession  of  this  worldly  life  for  the  intelligent, 


POUTICAlv  AND  SOCIAI.  CONDITIONS 

Turning  from  the  abstract  and  ideal,  we  shall  quote  the 
description  of  a  stretch  of  land  in  Pennsylvania,  the  abode 
of  this  goddess.  It  is  quite  characteristic  of  Sealsfield  to 
change  suddenly  from  a  deep  reflective  passage,  occasionally 
very  abstract,  sometimes  adorned  with  beautiful  metaphors  or 
even  veiled  in  symbolism,  to  a  little  sketch  roughly  outlined, 
but  here  and  there  containing  the  varied  and  true  coloring  of 
a  realist.  "^"This  part  has  a  touch  of  republican  equality  as 
even  in  this  country  of  freedom  cannot  be  found  often.  At  a 
first  glance  w^e  notice  that  it  is  a  free  citizen's  country,  not 
only  on  paper,  but  also  in  reality.  In  its  development  and 
civilization  there  existed  not  even  the  slightest  pressure  from 
above.  There  are  no  castles,  no  palaces,  the  battlements  of 
which  glare  far  into  the  land,  but  neither  are  there  any  huts 
which  sigh  under  their  protection ;  there  is  not  even  the  mock- 
ing mansion  of  a  stiff,  pious  Yankee,  who  in  his  heart  thanks 
God  that  he  is  not  like  unto  his  southern  neighbor ;  we  see 
nothing  but  plain  yeoman  seats,  which  by  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands are  connected  like  links  of  an  immeasurable  chain,  and 
look  so  much  more  pleasant,  since  they,  as  a  rule  are  inter- 
rupted by  fields,  meadows  and  often  patches  of  forest,  and  thus 
resemble  a  tremendous  park  in  which  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  human  beings  enjoy  life.  This  view  is  the  prose,  the  solid, 
vigorous  prose  of  our  Union." 

The  following  pages  will  show  what  virtues  and  social 
preconditions  must  have  existed  to  bring  about  this  vigorous 
outburst.  Lomond,,  the  old  English  money  tyrant,  an  extreme- 
ly interesting  character  in  the  second  part  of  Morton,  says  to 
the  young  American  envoy  and  tool  of  Stephen  Girard : 
^"Upon  your  soil,  young  man,  is  the  citadel  which  defends  the 
harbor,  in  the  bosom  of  which  the  treasures  of  the  entire  world 
can  lie  in   security.     Upon  your   soil  the  mightiest  despot  is 

but  a  vain  dream  picture,  and  often  even  a  sad  gift,  for  the  immoral 
one,  the  enthusiast,  and  the  fool,  which  makes  him  unhappier  than  the 
most  severe  slavery."  In  his  Skizacn,  p.  3,  he  rejoices  over  the  "highly 
recreating  view  of  a  rejuvenated  mankind." 

"^Morton,  pt.  I,  pp.  116-117. 

'^Ihid,  pt.  II,  p.  114. 

69  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

weaker  than  the  tiniest  wholesale  dealer.  There  is  the  dam 
on  which  arbitrariness  is  broken  ;  there  is  the  focus  where  the 
rays  unite,  and  whence  they  are  reflected,  there  is  the  rock 
against  which  all  rulers  would  break  their  skulls,  whence  must 
come  the  freedom  of  the  world  and  the  security  of  property ; 
not  that  Jacobinic  liberty  of  fools  and  bloodhounds — but  the 
freedom  of  the  individual  and  security  of  possession ;  and 
these  are  the  bases  of  all  true  liberty." 

It  is  especially  security  of  property  which  Sealsfield  men- 
tions as  being  the  fundamental  prerequisite  of  true  social  free- 
dom. Hereupon  rests  personal  liberty.  It  is  dependent  upon 
the  former.  The  author  is  thinking  of  landed  property,  as  we 
can  see  in  the  following  quotation:  ""Property,  and  especially 
landed  property  ...  is  a  base,  the  solidity  of  which  gives  a 
hold  even  to  the  dullest  brain,  which  the  intelligent  non-prop- 
erty holder  assumes  in  vain."  This  possession  is  free  from  taxes 
and  tributes.  It  is  a  patch  of  primeval  forest  whereupon  an 
active  man  has  settled  and  which  he  through  continuous 
struggling  with  the  wilderness  has  finally  wrested  out  of  her 
hands  and  changed  into  a  beloved  homestead.  The  estate  is 
sacred  to  the  owner.  It  is  sacred  also  to  others ;  no  one  will 
touch  it,  for  CA-eryone  knows  how^  dear  it  has  become  to  the 
possessor  through  the  years  of  toil.  As  long  as  everyone  lives 
on  his  own  land  and  raises  upon  it  the  food  for  the  family, 
he  can  live  independently.  No  one  can  abuse  him  for  his 
debts,  and  lower  him  to  the  position  of  a  slave,  as  was  the 
case  in  former  times.  General  Washington  says  that  the 
colonies  were  not  only  fighting  for  individual  freedom, 
but  also  for  security  of  property.  Colonel  Isling  tells  us  of 
an  incident  that  he  witnessed  in  the  quarters  of  the  chief  of 
staff.  The  staff  officers  had  taken  a  duck  from  a  farmer  boy 
and  had  already  put  it  on  the  spear  for  roasting  when  Wash- 
ington came  in.  He  looked  serious,  paid  the  boy,  who  stood  in 
a  corner  crying,  the  price  of  the  duck  and  then  turned  to  his 
staff  with  these  words:  '*I  request  you  not  to  overlook  in  the 
future  that  we  are  not  only  fighting  for  our  inborn  liberty,  but 

«  Virey,  pt.  I,  p.  318. 

70  


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

also  for  the  principle  of  security  of  property."'  Quite  similar 
are  the  following  words  from  Nathan  :  ^"Our  principles  have 
ever  been,  and  ever  will  be,  the  principles  of  freemen  :  inde- 
])endence  of  persons  and  property."'^  Stephy  (Stephen  Gir- 
ard)  maintains^^  that  the  Greeks  did  not  know  the  principle 
of  security  of  property  as  well  as  do  the  Americans. ^^ 

But  what  are  the  economic  prerequisites  of  this  sacred- 
ness  of  possession,  the  "basis  of  republican  community  wel- 
fare?" As  we  have  mentioned  above,  it  presupposes 
landed  property  which  yields  to  the  owner  all  he  needs. ^^ 
The  wealth  of  the  United  States  and  the  comfort  of  her  people 
is  compared  with  that  of  European  countries  and  their  inhab- 
itants in  the  following  passage:  ^^"Everywhere  a  certain 
wealth  is  noticeable,  which  is  solid,  for  it  rests  upon  a  firm 
foundation,  the  incontestable  right  of  possession  of  the  in- 
dividual.^'^  The  righteous,  intelligent  and  alert  man  lives 
nowhere  as  comfortable,  free  and  happy,  as  in  America."^' 
Where  people  live  upon  their  own,  free  inheritance,  often  far 
away    from   neighbors,    there   the   individual   man   is    thrown 

'i  Morion,  pt.  I,  p.  88. 

^  Nathan,  p.  229. 

»Cf.  Pflanzcrlchcu,  pt.  I,  p.  252. 

^^  Morton,  pt.  I,  p.  19L 

11  Grund,  Francis,  Aristokratic,  pt.  I,  p.  83,  speaking  of  Irish  and 
German  immigrants;  "Since  they  were  slaves  all  their  life,  they  set 
an  extraordinary  high  price  upon  abstract  liberty,  without  knowing  the 
significance  of  property." — ^Cf.  Grund,  Die  Anu'rikancr,  p.   147. 

1-  Duden,  Gottfried,  Rcise,  p.  2)2.  "That,  especially  in  the  interior, 
few  thefts  are  committed,  has  the  same  reason  why  one  does  not  meet 
with  beggars.  It  is  easier  to  obtain  one's  sustenance  in  a  different 
manner."  —  Cf.  Ibid.,  p.  124.  —  Cf.  Warden.,  D.  B.,  Account  of 
the  United  States,  v.  I,  p.  21. 

13  Vercinigie  Staaten,  p.   201. 

14  Cf.  Murray,  C.  A.,  Travels  in  North  America,  v.  II,  pp.  297-298. 
"Pauperism,  that  gaunt  and  hideous  spectre,  which  has  extended  its 
desolating  march  over  Asia  and  Europe,  destroying  its  victims  by 
thousands,  even  in  the  midst  of  luxury  and  wealth,  has  never  yet  car- 
ried its  ravages  into  the  United  States." 

15  Cf.  Duden,  Gottfried,  Rcise,  p.  289.  —  Cf.  American  History, 
No.  28,  "Spirit  of  American  Democracy,  by  J^Iarquis  de  Chastellux."  — 
Cf.  Ibid.,  No.  12,  "Characteristics  of  America,  by  Benjamin  Franklin." 

71 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

upon  his  own  resources;  he  must  govern  himself  and  his  house 
alone.  Sealsfield  maintains^^  that  a  true  republic  is  dependent 
upon  "self-government  of  each  individual  citizen,"  and  that 
this  self-government  needs  again  a  high  degree  of  political 
enlightenment  which  must  be  distributed  over  the  entire  na- 
tion/^ Elsewhere/^  asking  himself  the  question  if  Austria 
is  ripe  to  obtain  a  constitution  and  to  use  it  effectively,  he 
answers  with  the  following:  "A  constitution  w4iether  extorted 
by  the  force  of  arms  from  a  weak  prince,  or  whether  the  free 
gift  of  a  sovereign,  will  sleep  and  not  be  properly  enjoyed 
until  the  materials  for  its  proper  use  are  ready  for  it :  a  pro- 
portionate division  of  property  and  intellectual  light."  A 
similar  statement  we  hear  from  the  Conde.^^  He  advises 
against  the  battering  down  of  the  Mexican  institution,  because 
the  people,  as  did  the  Hebrews  at  one  time,  has  to  wander 
through  a  long  desert  of  sufifering  and  need  before  it  reaches 
the  land  of  enlightenment,  the  only  land  where  true  liberty 
can  dwell. 

But  where  is  this  land  of  enlightenment?  Can  it  be 
reached  through  study?  Is  the  road  paved  with  books  and 
scientific  investigations?  No,  for  the  Germans  possess  this 
sort  of  knowledge  without  political  enlightenment :  a  newly 
discovered  Minnelied  makes  them  forget  everything ;^^  they 
are  attracted  by  crumbling  bones,  old  inscriptions  and  rocks. ^^ 
"They  know  the  entire  world,  the  history  of  all  nations,  only 
their  own  is  locked  with  seven  seals.  They  know  themselves 
and  their  own  history  less  than  they  know  the  Hottentots. "^^ 
The  Germans  lack  the  faculty  of  judgment;  they  need  a  goodly 
portion  of  commonsense  to  see  behind  the  intrigues  of  the 
grandees.     It  is  political  enlightenment  which  must  precede 

16  Virey,  pt.  Ill,  p.  306. 

1"^  Cf.  Vereinigte  Staaten,  p.  78. 

18  Austria,  p.  154. 

19  Virey,  pt.  II,  p.  243. 

20  Austria,  p.  14. 

^'^  sad  en  und  Norden,  pt.  I,  p.  115. 
22  Ihid. 

72  


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

civil  enlightenment,  and  this  political  enlightenment  is  an  ex- 
clusive possession  of  the  Americans.  In  the  introduction  to 
Der  Legitime,  Sealsfield  calls  the  Americans  the  indisputably 
most  enlightened  people  in  politics ;  and  Lomond  speaks  of 
them  as  a  people  who  concern  themselves  with  politics  at  an 
early  age  and  therefore  become  men  when  still  rather  young. 
Sealsfield's  views  are  quite  similar  to  those  of  Jefferson^^ 
quoted  below.  Only  stupid  people  allow  themselves  to  be 
fooled  by  others.  In  fact  they  need  a  bellwether,  whom  they 
blindly  follow,  for  they  cannot  and  must  not  judge  for  them- 
selves. If  they  did,  they  would  undoubtedly  look  behind  the 
scenes  and  see  there  the  machinations  of  the  rulers,  and  a  de- 
termined will,  which  according  to  Sealsfield  keeps  pace  with 
enlightenment,  would  soon  take  the  reins  out  of  their  hands. 
Stephy  tells  us-^ :  "The  more  stupid  men  are  the  more  easily 
they  are  kept  in  leading  strings,  therefore  the  Cossacks  are  the 
very  best  subjects,"  and  farther  on  he  says:  "A  discerning 
nation  is  hard  to  rule — i.  e.,  to  tame."  Again  Lomond:  "Do 
you  know  who  are  the  pillars  of  monarchies  and  aristocracies? 
The  Croatian,  the  Cossack,  the  London  populace,  the  Paris 
canaille.  ^^  As  long  as  you  cannot  make  an  enlightened  Ameri- 
can out  of  a  Russian  serf,  honest  citizens  out  of  the  Paris 
canaille,  freeholders  out  of  the  London  populace,  they  must 
have  strong  governments  for  the  protection  of  good  citizens, 

23  Jefferson,  Writings,  v.  IV,  pp.  268-269,  to  George  Wythe,  August 
13,  '86.  'T  think  by  far  the  most  important  bill  in  our  whole  code  is 
that  for  the  diffusion  of,  knowledge  among  the  people.  No  other  sure 
foundation  can  be  devised  for  the  preservation  of  freedom  and  hap- 
piness. .  .  .  Preach,  my  dear  sir,  a  crusade  against  ignorance,  establish 
and  improve  the  law  for  educating  the  common  people.  Let  our 
countrymen  know  that  the  people  alone  can  protect  us  against  these 
evils,  and  that  the  tax  which  will  be  paid  for  this  purpose  is  not  more 
than  the  thousandth  part  of  what  will  be  paid  to  kings,  priests,  and 
nobles  who  will  rise  up  among  us  if  we  leave  the  people  in  ignorance." 
—  Again,  Ibid.,  p.  480,  to  James  Madison,  December  20,  '87.  "Above 
all  things  I  hope  the  education  of  the  common  people  will  be  attended 
to ;  convinced  that  on  their  good  sense  we  may  rely  with  the  most 
security  for  the  preservation  of  a  due  degree  of  liberty." 

'^'^  Morton,  pt.  I,  pp.  190-191. 

25  Duiden,  Gottfried,  Rcise,  p.  125,  speaking  of  autocracy,  says : 
"But  where  is  the  material  for  it  in  America. .  . .  There  exists  up  to  this 
time  little  populace." 

73  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

and  these  good  citizens  will  support  their  government,  nolentes 
z'olentes — for  their  own  existence  depends  upon  it."-^  Thus 
Sealsfield  correlates  the  strength  of  a  government  and  the 
stupidity  of  its  subjects.  A  strong  government  can  only  arise 
where  the  subjects  possess  no  enlightenment.  Therefore  it  is 
naturally  the  endeavor  of  a  ruler  to  keep  his  subjects  in  the 
dark,  for  his  very  existence  depends  upon  it.-'  This  the  author 
expresses  clearly  at  an  occasion-^  when  he  speaks  of  the 
Austrians :  "Their  faults  are  those  of  thoroughly  spoiled 
cliildren,  kept  in  ignorance  of  their  rights  by  a  demoralizing 
guardian,  who  wishes  to  prolong  his  tutorship.'" 

This  general  enlightenment  combined  with  landed 
property  constitutes  the  third  condition  which,  according  to  the 
author,  is  a  basic  factor  of  a  healthy  republic  :  America  has  no 
populace.-^  The  Conde-^"  admires  the  great  republic  of  the 
North,  because  there  the  potter  can  be  taken  from  his  clay,  the 
larmer  from  his  plough,  and  be  put  to  the  rudder  of  the  ship 
of  state,  "because  in  this  country  no  one  is  gigantically  great, 
nor  are  there  any  small  as  worms."  In  Der  Legitime^'^  Seals- 
field  attributes  the  fact  that  the  American  people  have  such  a 
high  degree  of  self  esteem  to  the  absence  of  a  real  populace. 

But  where  does  the  American  obtain  this  knoAvledge  of 
politics,  the  power  to  partake  in  the  great  events  of  the  state  ^ 
The  main  source  is  the  press.  This  Sealsfield  expresses  in  the 
following  words :  ^-"Of  the  most  important  bulwark  of  a 
nation's  liberty,  the  freedom  of  the  press,  no  people  make  a 
more  extensive  use  than  the  Americans,"  and  farther  on :  "The 

-^'^  Morton,  pt.  II,  p.  107. 

-'^Austria,  p.  131. 

-'8  Ihid.,  p.  196. 

-•^  Hceren,  A.  H.  L.,  lluropc  and  its  Colonics,  pt.  11,  p.  84.  "A 
country  where  exists  no  populace."  ~  Brauns,  E.  L.,  Idccn,  pp.  131-132. 
"In  our  population  the  rich  is  neither  presumptuous,  nor  is  the  poor 
unquiet ;  a  populace  in  the  true  meaning  of  the  word  can  hardly  be 
found  with  us." 

30  Virey,  pt.  II,  p.  242. 

31  Der  Legitime,  pt.  Ill,  pp.  66-67. 
3-  United  States,  p.  113. 

74 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

American  attends  to  his  newspaper  not  like  the  German  and 
the  French,  for  the  purpose  of  deriving  a  topic  of  conversation 
upon  poHtics  in  which  they  have  no  concern,  but  for  the  regu- 
lation of  his  political  and  social  life."  Lomond,  that  Stephen 
Girard  type  in  England,  says  the  following:  "'"^^They  are  the 
true  mirror  of  our  life,  and  give  so  much  information  con- 
cerning our  public  life,  whereas  the  papers  of  the  rest  of  the 
constitutional  world  contain  nothing  but  elaborate  articles 
dictated  by  those  in  power. •"^■''  a  kind  of  bait,  fishing  hook  and 
net  in  which  the  aristocrats  and  bureaucrats  catch  the  half- 
witted people — they  are  all  half-witted  except  ours — like  cattle 
and  robbins."  And  again  we  find  in  the  German  edition  of 
Sealsfield's  work  about  the  United  States  following  the  passage 
quoted  above  from  the  English  edition,  the  following:  "'^''To 
him  the  public  papers  are  sample  cards  of  the  public  and 
private  life.  That  which  in  other  states  would  be  a  crime, 
namely  to  obtain  information  upon  the  measures  of  his  govern- 
ment, is  his  duty."  No  other  government  has  so  much  interest 
as  has  the  American,  "to  give  the  people  the  right  views  in 
every  respect."'^''    Everyone,  even  the  wicked,  can  express  his 

34Mo;'/o;/.  pt.  IT,  pp.  47-48. 

3^  Cf .  Gall,  Ludwijx,  Meinc  Auswandcrunrj  nach  den  VcrciuigteK 
S tauten,  V.  II.  p.  132,  has  tlic  same  views  on  ,'\merican  newspapers  - 
But  to  set  the  opinion  of  these  two  Germans  off,  we  shall  quote  an 
Rnglishman  and  an  American  whose  works  appeared  several  years 
later,  when,  perhaps,  the  press  had  hecome  somewhat  degenerated.  — 
Marryat,  Frederick,  Diary,  Ser.  II,  v.  I,  p.  176.  "Every  man  in  America 
reads  his  newspaper,  and  hardly  anything  else;  and  while  he  consider^ 
that  he  is  assisting  to  govern,  those  who  pull  the  strings  in  secret  and 
by  flattering  his  vanity,  and  exciting  his  worst  feelings,  make  him  a 
poor  tool  in  their  hands.  People  arc  too  apt  to  imagine  that  the 
newspapers  echo  their  own  feelings;  when  the  fact  is,  that  by  taking  in 
a  paper,  which  upholds  certain  opinions,  the  readers  are,  by  daily 
repetition,  become  so  impressed  \\\i\\  these  opinions  that  they  have  be- 
come slaves  to  them." — Ihid.,  p.  165.  "A  witty,  but  unprincipled  states- 
man of  our  times,  has  said,  that  'speech  was  bestowed  on  man  to 
conceal  his  thoughts',  judging  from  the  present  condition,  he  might 
have  added  'the  press  in  America,  to  pervert  the  truth'  ". — The  last  is 
a  quotation  from  James  Fenimore  Cooper,  and  can  be  found  iti  his 
American  Democrat,  p.  135,  where  he  (pp.  128-135)  describes  the  cor- 
ruption and  tyranny  of  the  press  as  being  the  very  worst  imaginable. 

36  Vereinigtc  Staaten,  pt.  I,  p.  93. 

37  Cf.  Jefferson  to  Dr.  Currie.  Jan.  18,  1786.  "Our  liberty  depends 
upon  the  freedom  of  the  press,  and  that  cannot  be  limited  without  being 


CHARLES  vSEALSFIELD 

opinions  in  matters  of  politics  and  government.  ^^"Therein  lies 
the  true  spirit  of  a  life  of  freedom,  that  the  best  as  well  as  the 
worst  type  can  assert  itself  in  the  struggle  of  opinions;  for  the 
most  venomous  loses  its  poison  when  it  is  known  and  ap- 
preciated, and  the  purely  rational  alone  arises  and  becomes  a 
living  principle."  Nothing  is  more  dangerous  and  can  cause  a 
quicker  downfall  of  all  social  order  than  dormant  brooding  of 
the  masses.  Where  there  exists  complete  freedom  of  speech, 
there  the  will  of  the  people  is  known.  Nathan,  the  squatter 
chief,  tells  us  in  the  somewhat  curt  manner  characteristic  of 
backwoodsmen :  ^^"Are  in  a  free  country,  men !  Is  our  land  an 
asylum  where  anyone,  I  calculate,  can  express  his  opinion  and 
inclination,"  and  similarly,  we  read  in  Der  Legitime:  *^"We 
call  our  country  free  because  anyone  can  openly  state  his 
opinion  and  may  give  expression  to  his  thoughts  freely."  The 
voice  of  the  people  is  sound  and  must  be  heeded.  "Vox  populi, 
vox  Dei,"  says  Howard,^^  and  Colonel  Morse  tells  us,*^  that  the 
American  spirit  usually  hits  the  nail  on  the  head,  that  when- 
ever he  listened  to  the  voice  of  the  people,  he  succeeded  with 
his  enterprises.     Somewhere  else*^    Sealsfield    says    that    the 

lost."  Writings,  v.  IV,  p.  132.— Hecren.  A.  H.  L.,  v.  II,  p.  149.  "And 
so  it  could  finally  come  to  pass  that  the  question  of  the  preservation 
of  the  states  was  connected  with  the  question  of  the  preservation  of  the 
freedom  of  the  press." — Jefferson  to  Edward  Carrington  Jan.  16,  1786: 
"The  people  are  the  only  censors  of  their  governors;  and  even  their 
errors  will  tend  to  keep  these  to  the  true  principles  of  their  institutions. 
To  punish  these  errors  too  severely  would  be  to  suppress  the  only  safe- 
guard of  the  public  liberty.  The  way  to  prevent  these  irregular  inter- 
positions of  the  people  is  to  give  them  full  information  of  their  affairs 
through  the  channel  of  the  public  papers,  and  to  contrive  that  those 
papers  shall  penetrate  the  whole  mass  of  the  people.  The  basis  of  our 
government  being  the  opinion  of  the  people,  the  very  first  object  should 
be  to  keep  that  right;  and  were  it  left  to  me  to  decide  whether  we 
should  have  a  government  without  newspapers  or  newspapers  without 
a  government,  I  should  not  hesitate  a  moment  to  prefer  the  latter." 
Writings,  v.  IV.,  pp.  359-360. 

38  Der  Legitime,  pt.  II,  p.  237. 

3»  Nathan,  p.  266. 

40  Der  Legitime,  pt.  Ill,  p.  144. 

41  Ralph  Doughby,  p.   183. 

'^^  Das  Kajutenbuch,  pt.  II,  p.  63. 
^^  Nathan,    p.   7. 

76  


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

.Vmericans  are  proud  to  have  servants**  in  place  of  masters 
and  rulers.*^ 

The  writer  feels  obliged  to  translate  parts  of  a  lengthy 
passage,  an  episode  of  the  vrar  of  1812,  as  an  example  of  re- 
sistance of  subordinates.  This  will  show  at  the  same  time 
how  the  author  interweaves  truth  and  fiction  in  his  novels 
?,nd  how  he  occasionally  points  out  for  the  reader  less  familiar 
with  history  that  this,  or  at  least  a  certain  portion  of  it,  is 
''really  true."*^ 

A  general  (Jackson)  has  given  order  that  a  certain 
colonel  shall  join  forces  with  his.  The  colonel  does  not  act, 
but  waits  for  the  opinion  of  his  subordinates.  A  little  con- 
troversy ensues.*'' 

The  colonel  begins :  ''  'My  property  is  as  dear  to  me  as 
yours  to  you,  for  I  have  acquired  it.     But  I  should  rather  see 

44  Our  potentates  were  not  the  first  to  have  called  themselves 
servants.  Frederick  the  Great,  in  whose  state  everyone  should  ob- 
tain eternal  life  in  his  oivii  fashion,  had  also  called  himself  the  first 
servant  of  the  state. 

45  Cf.  Brauns,  Ernst,  Ideen,  p.  573.  "The  governments  are  the 
servants  of  the  people  and  are  considered  so  by  the  people.  .  .  .  and 
whereas  in  Europe  the  people  depend  upon  the  rulers,  here  the  regents 
as  such  depend  upon  the  good  will  of  the  people." — Again  we  must 
quote  Jefferson  with  whom  Sealsfield  has  so  many  ideas  in  common. 
As  pointed  out  above,  he  had  probably  read  and  studied  most  of  his 
writings. — Jefferson,  Writings,  v.  Ill,  p.  254.  Notes  on  Virginia,  Query 
XIV.  The  administration  of  justice  and  the  description  of  the  laws? 
"In  every  government  on  earth  is  some  trace  of  hum.an  weakness,  some 
germ  of  corruption  and  degeneracy,  which  cunning  will  discover  and 
wickedness  insensibly  open,  cultivate  and  improve.  Every  government 
degenerates  when  trusted  to  the  rulers  of  the  people  alone.  The  people 
themselves  are  its  safe  depositories.  And  to  render  them  safe,  their 
minds  must  be  improved  to  a  certain  degree." — ^And  again  Jefferson, 
who  wants  a  little  rebellion  novv  and  then  to  bring  back  lost  health  to 
the  government.  Writings,  v.  IV,  p.  370  to  Mrs.  John  Adams,  Feb. 
22,  '87.  "The  spirit  of  resistance  to  government  is  so  valuable  on 
certain  occasions,  that  I  wish  it  to  be  always  kept  alive.  It  will  often 
be  exercised  when  wrong,  but  better  so  than  not  to  be  exercised  at  all. 
I  like  a  little  rebellion  now  and  then.  It  is  like  a  storm  in  the 
atmosphere." — Of  the  same  contents  is  a  letter  written  to  James 
Madison,  Jefferson,  Writings  v.  IV,  pp.  362-363. — Cf.  Melish,  John, 
Travels,  pp.  48-49. 

46  Der  Legitime,  pt.  II,  p.  226ff. 

4'7  The  whole  Is  narrated  by  the  squire,  one  of  the  principal  charac- 
ters in  the  last  part  of  Der  Legitime. 

77 


CHARLES  vSEALSFIELD 

the  enemy  burn  up  all  than  have  an  iota  of  my  rights  curtailed. 
I  helped  to  raise  the  country,  and  I  want  to  leave  a  free  in- 
heritance to  my  children.  We  have',  he  continued  with  em- 
phasis, 'met  here  to  keep  the  enemy  from  taking  possession  of 
our  land  as  he  threatened,  but  not  to  have  our  inborn  rights 
snatched  from  us,  and  while  we  drive  away  one  enemy,  to  have 
an  incurable  wound  inflicted  upon  us  by  a  more  dangerous  one, 
who  forgets  what  he  owes  to  himself  and  to  his  country,  and 
who  loses  his  head  on  account  of  a  couple  of  thousand  miser- 
able Britishers It  is  a  question  of  abolition  of  all  legal 

authority,  centralization  of  all  power  in  one  person,  a 
dictatorship  de  facto,  and  as  little  as  it  is  dangerous  in 
his  hand,  in  another,  more  skillful  and  daring,  it  may  become 
very  dangerous.'  Someone  else  says:  'But  does  that  deserve 
the  name  authority  which  exists  only  when  there  is  no  danger, 
and  which  is  suspended  and  makes  room  for  arbitrariness  as 
soon  as  danger  approaches.  Does  such  an  act  not  apparently 
show  that  we  consider  our  free  constitution  insufficient  in  days 
of  danger,  if  the  appearance  of  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand 
enemies  is  enough  to  dissolve  it?  This  is  a  blow  to  our 
national  feeling  which  nothing  can  excuse,  and  which  will 
leave  a  fatal  festering  and  may  become  an  example  in  future 
cases  .  .  .  .'  They  stepped  into  a  boat  which  was  awaiting 
them,  and  landed  on  the  opposite  shore  where  they  took  re- 
freshments, and  went  calmly  and  placidly  to  a  meeting,  which 
in  another  land  might  have  cost  streams  of  blood,  and  might 
have  caused  a  revolution  in  the  order  of  things;  for  this 
meeting  aimed  at  nothing  less  than  to  set  to  rights  a  genera^, 
blinded  through  the  sovereign  power  given  him  by  one  of  the 
chief  executive  officers  of  the  country  and  to  condemn  his 
behavior  before  the  whole  nation.  And  all  this  at  a  time 
when  the  enemy  had  landed  a  big  force  upon  the  shore.  But 
the  Genius  of  this  land  is  so  marvelous,  and  the  reasoning 
power  is  betrayed  so  plainly  in  eternal  friction,  that  even  the 
most  threatening  dangers  cannot  lead  this  public  Genius 
astray.  Slowly  and  thoughtfully,  weighing  all,  he  appears 
now  apparently  cold  and  heartless,  moving  on  tediously  as  the 

78  


POUTICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

hands  of  a  clock,  now  as  a  violent  confusion  of  brooding 
passions  and  hateful  selfishness;  but  just  from  these  activities 

arises  a  harmonic  result  which  ties  together  millions 'Do 

not  forget  that  these  men,  born  citizens,  resident  and  esteemed 
citizens,  are  now  engaged  in  the  execution  of  their  sovereign 
rights,  that  they  have  to  look  out  for  interests  for  which  it  may 
be  too  late  tomorrow.  .  .'  Thus  it  is,  and  I  believe  that  if  the 
enemy  should  approach,  this  sovereign  people  would  first  ar- 
rive cautiously  at  their  conclusions." 

The  meeting  is  over.  The  resolutions  having  been  handed 
to  a  captain,  who  is  to  take  them  to  the  commanding  general, 
the  colonel  closes  the  discussion  with  the  following  words : 
"lyisten,  if  five  hundred,  and  tomorrow,  a  thousand  citizens 
pronounce  a  sentence  in  view  of  the  entire  nation,  and  put 
themselves  at  the  same  time  under  his  (General  Jackson's) 
command,  then  we  hope  this  will  be  sufficient  to  open  his  eyes 
to  the  danger  which  he  is  approaching.  And  this,  Captain,  is 
our  first  duty.  I  can  vouch  that  the  citizens  will  fulfill  their 
second  duty  against  the  enemy  below.  He  who  fights  with 
and  for  liberty  is  doubly  sure  of  victory." 

"^^Then  the  squire  tells  us,  that  the  general,  who  was 
prosecuted  after  peace  was  made,  was  fined  two  thousand 
dollars,  and  the  author  assures  us  of  the  veracity  of  his  state- 
ments in  the  following  words :  "We  do  not  believe  it  necessary 
to  prove  to  our  readers  the  fact  which  the  squire  has  just 
related  to  us,  and  which,  as  we  all  know,  terminated  in  finding 
the  renowned  victor  guilty  of  infringement  upon  the  Habeas 
Corpus  act "'^■^ 

48  Der  Legitime,  pt.  Ill,  pp.  251-252. 

4'^  Flint,  History  and  Geography,  p.  177.  "His  (Jackson's)  conduct 
in  proclaiming  martial  law  (in  New  Orleans)  and  suspending  the 
privilege  of  Habeas  Corpus,  removing  some  suspected  citizens  and 
punishing  some  deserters  with  the  last  rigor  of  martial  law,  underwent 
a  severe  investigation,  at  the  time,  an  investigation  which  subsequent 
circumstances  have  renewed  with  increased  asperity." — p.  176.  "On  the 
13th  of  the  month  peace  was  officially  announced  in  the  camp.  On 
the  24th  General  Jackson  was  prosecuted  for  contempt  of  court  at  the 
suit  of  Judge  Hall,  and  was  cast  in  a  fine  of  a  thousand  dollars." 

79  — 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

But  is  popular  will  right?  Does  the  majority  constitute 
the  better  half?  What  about  the  few  wise  men?  Sealsfield 
apparently  concerns  himself  little  with  these  questions.  True, 
at  one  time^°  he  speaks  of  the  government  as  becoming  more 
mobocratic,^^  but  his  criticism  is  by  no  means  as  severe  as  that 
of  the  men  quoted  below. ^- 

Religious  freedom  is  also  an  important  factor  of  civil 
liberty.  What  were  it  if  there  existed  no  liberty  of  creed '^ 
"Religion  and  priests,  or  rather,  superstition  and  monks,  are 
not  fit  instruments  to  nourish  liberal  and  republican  ideas. "^"^ 
Although  Sealsfield  does  not  accept  a  particular  creed,  he  has 
a  wonderful  behef  in  a  superior  being;  he  attacks,  however, 
camp-meetings,  the  constant  opposition  between  sects,  ignorant 
men  in  the  pulpit,  et  cetera.  "Sacred^^  as  religion  is  to  me, 
and  as  it  should  be  to  every  reflecting  being,  and  much  as  I 
esteem  freedom  of  conscience  in  every  thinking  person,  this 
religious  system  of  opposition,    the    system    adopted    by  our 

50  Ralph  Doughby,  p.  182. 

»^  For  the  history  of  the  word  see  Murray,  James,  English  Diction- 
ary on  Historical  Principles. 

52  Hodgson,  Adam,  Letters  from  North  America,  v.  II,  p.  165.  "I 
had  no  idea  of  the  degree  in  which  popularity  was  made  a  primary  and 
avowed  object  of  pursuit  here;  nor  of  the  extensive  sacrifices  of 
personal  independence  which  are  made  at  her  shrine.  In  this  free 
government  many  of  the  senators  and  representatives  are  far  less  the 
servants  than  the  slaves  of  their  constituents,  and  they  must  be  fond, 
indeed,  of  public  honors  and  official  station,  who  are  willing  to  buy 
them  at  such  a  price."-— Cf.  Marryat,  Frederick,  Diary,  Ser.  II,  v.  II, 
p.  65.  ".  .  .  it  is  incredible  how  rapidly  a  man,  unless  he  be  of  a  superior 
mind,  falls  into  nothingness  in  the  United  States  when  once  he  has 
dared  to  oppose  the  popular  will.  He  is  morally  bemired,  bespattered, 
and  trod  under  foot,  until  he  remains  a  lifeless  carcass."  —  Ibid., 
Ser.  II,  V.  II,  p.  65.  "Indeed  no  high-m.inded,  consistent  man  v/ill  now 
offer  himself,  and  this  is  one  cause  among  many  why  Englishmen  and 
foreigners  have  not  done  real  justice  to  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
The  scum  is  uppermost,  and  they  do  not  see  below  it.  The  prudent, 
the  enlightened,  the  wise,  and  the  good,  have  all  retired  into  the  shade, 
preferring  to  pass  a  life  of  quiet  retirement  rather  than  submit  to  the 
msolence  of  dictation  of  a  mob." — ^Cf.  Ibid,  Ser.  I,  v.  I,  p.  114.  "The 
Americans  fear  public  opinion  beyond  the  grave." 

53  The  United  States,  v.  I,  p.  45. 

54  Pflanzerleben,  pt.  I,  pp.  63-64. 

—  80  


POUTICAL  AND  SOCIAIv  CONDITIONS 

Methodists,  Tunkers,^^  Presbyterians,  Quakers,  et  cetera,  is 
hateful  to  me ;  the  entire  proceedings  are  carried  on  in  a 
mercantile  manner.  Like  agents  the  reverend  gentlemen  are 
distributed;  and  individuals  who,  a  few  weeks  before,  perhaps, 
worked  with  the  needle  or  the  awd,  now  fill  the  heads  of  our 
Indians  and  Negroes  with  their  crude  ideas — transforming 
rhem  from  simpletons  to  perfect  fools.  I  have  never  yet  found 
a  Negro  or  Indian  who  had  been  improved  or  converted  by 
the  missionaries.  I  have  due  respect  for  the  true  spiritual 
vocation,  and  for  those  men  wdio  enter  the  wilderness  to  pre- 
pare our  Indians  for  religious  education  by  suitable  employ- 
ment; but  spare  me  from  these  'camp-meeting'  preachers." 

Alost  of  all  religions-"'*^  he  attacks  Catholicism.  Several  of 
his  works,  especially  those  dealing  with  Mexico,  contain  long 
tirades  against  this  all-enslaving,  pow^erful  institution.  ^'^What 
reasonable  man  would  for  a  moment  think  of  becoming  a 
Catholic — of  bending  under  a  yoke  which  enchains  and  kills 
both  body  and  soul."  Somewhere  else'''^  he  calls  Catholicism  a 
religion  for  childhood  and  old  age,  of  nations  as  well  as  of 
individuals ;  and  again'"''-^  he  claims  that  a  Catholic  does  not  have 
any  consideration  for  his  religious  convictions,  for  he  is  looked 
upon  as  a  man  who  has  not  yet  attained  freedom  of  thought. 
Strange  to  say,  Sealsfield,  who  at  one  time  was  secretary  of  a 
catholic  order,  sees  in  this  church  the  most  powerful  enemy  of 
mankind.     She  goes  hand  in  hand  with  secular  tyranny.     Yes, 


55  Baird,  Robert,  View  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  p.  327.  "This 
sect  (The  Tunkers)  has  existed  in  this  country  since  1719.  They 
have  probably  forty  or  fifty  churches,  principally  in  Pennsylvania  and 
the  western  states." 

5^  In  Die  Vereinigten  Staaten,  pp.  137-138,  he  describes  Methodist 
revival  meetings  and  some  of  their  evil  effects  and  ends  his  discussion 
with  the  statement  that  it  was  estimated  that  eighty  illegitimate  children 
owed  their  birth  to  those  three  nights. — Cf.  Lieber,  Francis,  The 
Stranger  in  America,  p.  304.  "A  camp-meeting  is  to  me  a  most  gloomy 
sight,  and  gives  you  the  clue  to  a  number  of  phenomena  in  history, 
which  otherwise  would  be  nearly  inconceivable  by  a  sober  mind." 

57  Kajiitenbuch,  pt.  I,  p.  38.—  Cf.  Siiden  und  Norden,  pt.  II,  p.  356. 

58  Siiden  und  Norden,  pt.  I,  p.  70. 

^^  Die    Vereinigten   Staaten,  p.    140. 

81 ■ 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

she  is  even  worse,  ^""for  the  grossest  worldly  tyranny  will 
brighten  up  her  black  sides  with  flashes  of  light;  not  so  the 
ecclesiastical  tyranny,  which  shuns  the  light  and  wants  but 
darkness  and  slavery^^-— yea,  worse  than  slavery,  the  most  de- 
grading self-humiliation.  It  is  a  bitter  world  irony,  this 
predicate  servus  servorum  Dei."^'-  There  is,  however,  another 
reason,  why  to  Sealsfield  the  popish  religion  is  especially  odious, 
''•"'"Much  is  due  to  the  relation  in  which  the  church  stands  to 
foreign  countries.  The  American  preacher  recognizes  the 
sovereignty  of  the  people,  the  Catholic  priest,  that  of  the  Pope. 
The  American  preacher  has  his  mind  set  upon  enlightening  his 
congregation,  the  Catholic  priest,  upon  keeping  it  in  darkness ; 
the  Catholic  priest,  usually  Irish,  is  aristocratic,  the  American 
preacher,  republican.  In  many  states  a  Catholic  meets  with 
difficulties  if  he  desires  to  obtain  a  public  office."  How  the 
Catholic  church  tried  to  get  a  foothold  in  Texas  by  making 
land  grants  under  the  condition  that  the  settler  should  adopt 
the  Roman  faith,  and  how  she  struggled  to  spread  her  all- 
protecting  wings  over  the  entire  North,  we  can  see  in  the 
following : 

"^^Obviously.  .  .  the  government  of  Mexico  had  in  its  plan 
for  the  colonization  of  Texas  deeper  motives,  which  sprung  not 
out  of  Mexican,  but  out  of  much  more  dangerous  heads;  the 
Romish  priests  were  at  the  bottom  of  it  .  Texas,  they  thought, 
should  not  be  merely  a  kind  of  outwork  for  the  political  union 
of  the  states  of  Mexico,  but  it  should,  with  its  mixed  popula- 
tion, become  a  bulwark  against  the  heretical  union,  a  kind  of 
flying  corps  for  the  Catholic  religion,  which,  in  case  of  neces- 
sity should  take  the  offensive  against  us,  and  bring  into  confu- 
sion our  peaceful  religious  conditions.  Rome  had  at  that  time 
very  perceptibly  a  great  deal  to  do  with  us  and  our  Union.  The 

'^^'^  Slid  en  und  Norden,  pt.  Ill,  p.  153. 

^>i  Channing,  William  Ellery,  Works,  p.  471.  "LeUer  on  Catholic- 
ism". .  .  "its  great  foe  is  the  progress  of  society.  The  creation  of  dark 
times,  it  cannot  stand  before  the  light." 

«2  Cf.  Siiden  und  Norden,  pt.  Ill,  pp.  48-49. 

^^Die    Vereinigten    Staaten,    p.    140. 

^  Kajiitcnhuch,  pt.  I,  pp.  35-37. 

82  


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

activity  of  her  emissaries  and  priests  was  quite  extraordinary 
— their  pious  machinations  and  intrigues  were  everywhere  to 
be  perceived.  In  many  places  in  the  North,  even  in  the  State 
of  New  York,  cloisters  and  seminaries  had  been  erected,  and 
that  so  quickly  and  apparently  by  such  powerful  means  as  to 
create  considerable  surprise  and  astonishment/'''.  No  one 
knew  whence  the  supplies  came.  The  American  people,  with 
that  sure  tact  which  always  guides  it,  destroyed  these  hot-beds 
of  spiritual  slavery;*'^'  but  although  tlic  \crmin  then  left  us  in 
j^eace  in  the  North,  they  became  all  the  more  troublesome  in 
the  South.  Was  it  likely  that  we,  citizens  of  the  free,  en- 
liglitened,  and  powerful  states  of  America,  should  permit  that 
a  neighboring  government,  which  owed  its  very  existence  to  us, 
and  which  a  coui)le  of  our  battalions  could  overthrow,  should 
dictate  to  us  laws,  and  prescribe  what  we  should  and  what  we 
should  not  believe?  Should  we  not  rather  strain  every  nerve 
to  nullify  these  arbitrary  laws,  framed  by  an  insidious  foreign 
policy,  and  to  cause  the  stroke  intended  for  us  to  fall  upon  the 
heads  of  those  who  aimed  it?"  But  this  is  by  no  means  all  that 
Mexico  and  her  state  church  did  to  gain  new  subjects.  When 
a  criminal  who  had  deserved  the  rope,  and  was  without  pro- 
lection,  knocked  at  the  door  of  a  priest,  the  church  offered  him 
all  he  could  wish  for  under  one  condition — he  must  become  a 

•■'•"^  Cf.  Henni,  Johann  Martin,  Ein  Blick  ins  Thai  dcs  Ohio  oder 
Brief c  iihcr  den  Kampf  und  das  IVicderauflehen  dcr  katholischen  Kir- 
(he  im  fernen  ll'csten  der  Vereinigten  Staaten  Nordamerika's,  Miin- 
chen,  1836. — Macs,  Camillus,  P.,  The  Life  of  Reverend  Charles  Ner- 
inckx,  Cincinnati,  1880. — Copious  notes  on  the  Progress  of  Catholicity  hi 
the  United  States  of  America  from  1800  to  1825. — Leopoldincn-Stiftung, 
V^ienna,  An  Austrian  Catholic  organization  for  the  stipport  of  missions 
in  America.  —  Channing,  William  Ellery,  Works,  p.  471.  "Letter  on 
Catholicism":  "We  hear  much  of  the  Catholic  religion  in  the  West, 
and  of  its  threatening  progress." — Cf.  Western  AlontJilv  Magazine, 
1835,  V.  Ill,  pp.  375-390.  "The  Catholic  Question." 

^'^'Ardy,  E.  S.,  Journal,  v.  Ill,  pp.  258-259,  tells  of  two  convents, 
one  at  Boston,  the  other  at  Charleston,  having  been  destroyed  by  mobs. 
— Cf.  IVahhcnvandtschaften,  pt.  II,  pp.  314-315:  "The  convent  at 
Boston,  as  far  as  I  know,  is  not  hal)itable.  I  am  really  not  certain  if 
that  story  of  the  burning  is  true.  It  was  property,  to  be  sure  only 
property  of  the  Romish  high  priest,  but  it  was  property  all  the  same, 
and  perhaps  it  was  not  right  to  lay  waste  to  that  holy  seclusion  for 
women ;  but  those  Romish  priests  have  such  crafty  ways.  They  have 
also  built  one   of   those  tabernacles  in   Rockland   County,  v^'here  again 

83  ^ 


CHARLES  SEAI^SFIEIvD 

Catholic.*^'  Johnny,  that  outcast  tavern  keeper  in  the  Kajuten- 
huch,  takes  his  last  refuge  in  a  cloister  and  becomes  one  of 
the  most  dangerous  enemies  of  Texas. 

We  said  above,  that  Sealsfield  has  a  creed  and  a  God ;  but 
they  are  those  of  a  man  who  has  turned  his  back  upon  a 
powerful  clerical  institution,  as  he  did  at  Prague,  and  has 
fmally  found  his  own  God  in  the  open,  in  His  creation.  It  is 
the  author  who  speaks  through  Colonel  Morse  when  he  was 
lost  in  the  prairies  of  San  Yacinto :  ^^"While  I  rode  I  prayed, 
and  while  I  prayed,  and  the  greatness  of  my  Creator's  mighty 
works  passed  before  my  eyes,  I  opened  them  wider  than  ever, 
that  they  might  take  their  fill  of  the  glories  of  nature.  Glorious 
nature !  The  man  who  can  stand  on  soil  such  as  this,  and  not 
be  penetrated  with  the  power  and  majesty  of  God  must  indeed 
be  a  senseless  animal.  The  God  of  Moses,  who  spake  out  of 
the  burning  bush,  did  not  appear  comparable  to  the  God  who 
here  appeared  to  me  pervading  everything  in  the  clear,  im- 
measurable world.  Never  had  He  appeared  so  great  to  me 
before.  I  felt  as  though  in  His  visible  presence;  His  voice 
sounded  in  my  ears,  His  magnificence  surrounded  me  and 
filled  my  soul.  Now  that  I  had  attained  the  end  of  my  suffer- 
ing and  my  safety,  I  wished  to  enjoy  a  parting  glance  of  Him 
and  His  magnificent  work."*^^ 

The  same  revival  he  must  have  experienced  in  the 
Attacapas  of  Louisiana,  for  his  words  in  Pflanzerlehen'^^  ex- 
press the  same  conviction  with  just  as  much  truthfulness  and 
sincerity  of  feeling.  Here,  too,  the  immensity  of  nature  and 
the  pureness  of  the  atmosphere  leads  back  the  wayward  to  the 
belief  in  Him.  "Send  the  atheist  for  a  month,  but  for  a  month, 
to  our  prairies  and  he  will — nay,  he  must  return  a  believer — 

the  people  put  a  stop  to  the  fun.  Am  inclined  to  think  the  people  were 
right,  and  I  am  truly  glad  that  these  hotbeds  of  Catholicism  were  burnt 
to  the  ground,  it's  the  shortest  way  out  of  it." 

^'^  Kajiitenbuch,  pt.  I,  p.  233. 

68  Kajiitenbuch,  pt.  I,  p.  73. 

69  Cf .  Ibid.,  p.  76. 

70  Pflanzerleben,  pt.  I,  pp.  335—336. 

84  


POUTICALv  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

a  devout,  a  penitent  believer !"      Thus    ends    the    beautiful 
passage. 

One  should  think  that  in  a  land  where  there  is  much 
freedom  of  speech  and  action,  there  would  exist  no  esteem 
for  the  law.  But  this  assumption  is  pronounced  erroneous  by 
the  author.'^^  In  George  Howard,  chapter  II,  we  witness  a 
little  electioneering  riot.  The  constable  enters  and  all  is  quiet : 
"His  appearance  alone  effected  what  a  hundred  body  guards 
could  not  have  accomplished — namely  an  immediate 
armistice."  The  call  to  peace  in  the  name  of  the  law  had 
touched  them  all  as  though  with  a  magician's  wand.'^^  Compte 
de  Vignerolle  expresses  the  same  in  the  following  words :  "It 
is  truly  said  of  your  country,  that  it  needs  no  police — each  in- 
habitant is  a  policeman. "■^^  The  tarring  and  feathering  which 
we  witness  in  Nathan  is  an  example  of  the  people  taking  the 
law  into  their  own  hands. '^*. 

Sealsfield  asserts  that  the  Americans  are  ruled  by 
principles  and  axioms,  and  that  hereupon  is  based  their  good 
conduct. ^^  "You  must  consider  that  with  us — governed  by  no 
strong  hand,  no  priests,  no  soldiers,  no  police,  no  army  of  civil 
and  military  office-holders,  no  king,  who,  by  a  lettre  de  cachet, 
can  bury  the  scandal  in  a  Bastille — I  say,  that  we,  who  are  in 
some  sense  governed  by  principles  punish  high  treason  against 
them,  as  severely  as  you  punish  high  treason  against  your  so- 
styled  immaculate  monarchs.  Alas !  When  these  last  and  sole 
barriers  shall  be  pulled  down,  we  must  sink  into  anarchy  and 
dissoluteness  far  more  horrible  than  that  with  which  your 
sans-culottes  are  cursed."  Similarly :  ^*^"In  a  civil  society  like 
ours  which  is  its  own  governor,  where  all  are  equal,  we  must 

■^1  Cf.  Lieber,  Francis,  The  Stranger  in  America,  pp.  31-34,  praises 
obedience  to  law  of  Americans. 

"^2  Cf.  George  Howard,  p.  ZZ. — Die  Vereinigten  Staaten,  p.  294. 

73  Nathan,  p.  10. 

"^^  Grund,  Francis  J.,  Die  Amerikaner,  p.  175,  claims  that  this 
typically  American  punishment  was  first  used  by  Puritans  on  English 
excise  officers  in  Boston  and  was  therefore  considered  a  patriotic  act. 

75  Nathan,  p.  330. 

76  Ibid.,  p.  322. 

85  ■ 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

I)e    particularly    cautious     that    these    principles,    on    v/hich 
morality  is  founded,  be  not  outraged  or  impaired." 

But  Sealsfield  realizes  that  the  wall  which  separates  right 
from  wrong  is  built  only  very  lightly.  ^^"This  republican  life 
is  more  difficult  than  any  other,  for  the  borderline  of  right  is 
only  lightly  drawn,  and  is  easily  over-stepped  if  millions  are  not 
watching  distrustfully." 

The  American  watches  just  as  closely  over  his  fatherland 
as  he  watches  over  his  laws.  '^^Patriotism  is  considered  by 
Sealsfield  a  prerequisite  to  political  and  cultural  growth  of  a 
country.  It  will  soon  make  Uncle  Sam  master  of  the  seas. 
•''"Show  them  a  British  frigate",  the  author  says,  "and  they 
will  throw  themselves  against  her,  and  break  her,  as  a  sturdy 
free  man  will  break  the  arrogance  of  a  dull  serf."  We  see  this 
spirit  in  Der  Legitime,  pt.  II,  where  six  thousand  Americans*^ 
are  victorious  over  the  entire  British  force.  They  ''fought 
for  their  hearth,  home  and  liberty,  and  this  spirit  is  insur- 
mountaible."  In  the  KajUtenbuch^^  we  read  of  a  similar 
patriotism  and  all-sacrificing  courage.  Seven  thousand  in- 
habitants^"-' of  Texas  rise  to  shake  off  their  heavy  yoke.  Al- 
tliough  they  become  engaged  in  combat  against  thirty  thousand 
well-trained  Mexicans,  they  gain  a  final  victory  and  thereby 
liberate  their  oppressed  land.  The  patriotism  of  which  we  are 
told  in  the  case  of  General  Steuben  is  also  found  in  the  common 
man,  in  every  day  life.  George  Howard  shall  be  given  an  op- 
portunity to  tell  us  about  this  sort  of  love  for  one's  country : 

^'^•^'"She  (the  country)  is  our  bride,  withVhom  we  pass  the 
honeymoon;  a  cross  look  from  a  third  |)erson  invariably  spoils 

"^^  Dcr  Legitime,  pt.  II,  p.  237. 

'78  Herder,  Ideen,  pt.  II,  p.  121,  calls  patriotism  and  enlightenment 
the  two  poles  "around  which  all  human  cuhure  moves." 
"^'^  George  Hownrd,  pp.  32-33. 

80  A  correct  statement  of  the  strength  of  General  Jackson's  force; 
that  of  General  Packenham  is  assumed  to  have  been  10,000. 

81  Kajiitenhuch,  pt.  II,  pp.  1-121   (Der  Krieg). 

82  Only  a  very  small  percentage  of  the  men  that  fought  the  hattles 
were  Texans. 

83  Ralph  Doughhy,  pp.  88-90. 

86  


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

our  temper.  No  one  but  an  American  can  understand  this 
love.  A  foreigner  calls  it  apish  love ;  he  is  annoyed  at  us  if  wx 
prefer  our  bride  to  others ;  he  laughs  and  scorns  us  for  the  love 
we  bear  our  country,  because  it  is  entirely  different  from  the 
love  he  feels  toward  his  own,  which  he  knows  resembles  the 
United  States  in  no  particular.  We  willingly  acknowledge 
this,  for  Uncle  Sam's  country  is  still  a  new  property;  it  has 
none  of  the  proud  and  frowning  castles,  the  wide  halls,  beauti- 
ful parks,  grottos,  and  Gothic  cathedrals  of  old  England.  It 
has  not  the  ivy-covered  two-thousand-year-old  obelisks, 
])antheons,  and  coliseums  of  the  old  Roman  land  and  the 
delicious  vineyards  of  la  belle  France;  it  is  merely,  as  we  said, 
a  new  property,  with  new  buildings  and  new  fields,  only 
recently  redeemed  from  the  wilderness,  and  where  the  master, 
even  had  he  been  inclined,  has  not  yet  found  time  to  think  of 
halls,  cathedrals,  or  grottos.  In  comparison  with  older 
domains  this  property  is  homely  and  plain,  but  more  productive 
than  many  older  ones  which  have  been  longer  under  cultiva- 
tion. In  addition  to  this,  it  is  our  own  property,  our  plantation, 
upon  which  we  look  with  pride  and  love  as  a  father  does  upon 
his  family,  and  the  household  which  he  has  laid  out  himself- - 
planted  his  own  trees,  sown  his  own  seed.  Here  we  have  a 
home  upon  which  no  debts,  no  taxes,  and  no  duties  rest ;  a  free- 
hold in  every  respect,  which  does  not  belong  to  great  masters, 
emperors,  kings,  dukes,  counts,  or  whatever  they  may  be 
called;  where  we  are  not  mere  serfs,  day  laborers  or  tenants, 
who  reside  in  a  cellar  or  attic,  from  which  we  might  any  day 
be  sent  to  Botany  Bay  or  the  Conciergerie,  should  we  have  a 
mind  to  kill  a  rabbit  that  sits  in  our  way,  or  to  call  Johnny^*  a 
booby.  It  is  our  own  property,  and  for  that  reason  we  love  it. 
as  a  good,  kind  father  is  much  more  proud  of  his  simple  house 
and  field,  which  he  raised  and  improved  himself,  than  his  rich 
neighbor,  who  is  merely  a  tenant  of  a  rich  country-seat." 

Political  equality,  which  Sealsfield  lauds  so  much,  has  con- 
comitants in  other  phases  of  life.    A  democracy  gives  an  equal 

^*  John  Quincy  Adams. 

87  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

chance  to  all.^^  Even  the  poor  man  often  competes  success- 
fully in  the  commercial  world,  for  in  place  of  money  and  assets 
he  may  have  personal  qualities  which  lead  him  to  success. 
Abilities  and  endowments,  of  which  no  one  can  deprive  him, 
are  as  good  as  capital.  Sealsfield  maintains  that  our  social 
life  is  based  upon  credit,  which  is  "the  anticipated  reward  of 
activity,  merit,  diligence,  and  perseverance."^^  Later  there  will 
be  an  opportunity  to  say  more  about  credit;  for  the  present 
only  one  more  quotation  from  the  author,  who  in  our  land  of 
contrasts  and  extremities  has  assumed  a  language  portraying 
the  same  characteristics,  and  sometimes  expresses  views  that 
show  fluctuations  not  less  perceptible,  and  often  makes  state- 
ments which  at  first  seem  no  less  radical,  thoughtless,  and  un- 
founded. He  says :  ^^''Credit  is  the  fundamental  condition, 
the  life  of  liberty,  of  rational,  real  liberty,  of  American  liberty, 
as  it  exists  in  no  other  country." 

Social  equality  aside  from  the  commercial  field  rests  upon 
one  other  factor.  A  poor  illiterate  Westerner  may  build  his  hut 
upon  the  land  adjoining  that  of  a  rich,  well  educated  farmer. 
"Both  may  be  the  only  settlers  for  many  miles  around.  Naturally 
they  are  somewhat  dependent  upon  each  other.  ^^''Thus  with 
us,  the  points  of  social  position  touch  each  other;  and,  by 
continual  contact,  smooth  each  other's  harsh  and  rough  cor- 
ners. The  son  of  a  senator  builds  his  hut  on  a  piece  of  wood- 
land, which  joins  the  property  of  a  Scotch  drover,  whose  wife 
was  probably  the  servant  of  the  senator's  daughter,  who  now 
meets  her  as  a  friendly  neighbor,  and  returns  every  little 
civility  with  equal  obligations.  Thus  necessity  promotes  with 
us,  to  a  certain  degree,  that  social  republican  system,  which 
in  the  West  spreads  its  roots,  while  in  the  East,  amid  the  bustle 
of  sea-port  towns,  it  already  withers." 

85  KajUtenhuch,  pt.  I,  p.  236— Cf.  Der  Legitime,  pt.  IH,  p.  252— Cf. 
Marryat,  Frederick,  Diary,  Ser.  1,  v.  \,  p.  20.  Among  the  advantages 
of  a  democracy  the  greatest  is,  perhaps,  that  all  start  fair. 

86  Wahlverwandtschaften  pt.  II,  p.  275. 

87  Wahlverwandtschaften,  pt.  II,  p.  276. 

88  Ralph  Doughby,  pp.  230-231. 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

To  a  man  of  high  attainments  and  culture,  such  as 
Sealsfield  was,  the  question  concerning  the  status  of  the  higher 
mtellectual  Hfe  then  existing  in  this  country  must  have  had  an 
especial  appeal.  It  is,  therefore,  both  interesting  and  in- 
structive to  examine  the  picture  which  he  sketches  of  the 
contemporary  condition  of  arts  and  sciences  in  America.  To 
be  sure  he  realized  that  the  country  was  in  the  process  of 
development,  and  he  was  conscious  of  the  possibility  of  rapid 
progress  in  these  directions  of  mental  and  ethnic  activity  as 
soon  as  the  more  urgent  needs  would  be  gratified.  ^^"In  a 
country,  one  half  of  which  has  no  roads  and  bridges,  and 
where  the  most  necessary  means  for  social  communication  are 
lacking,  other  things  are  needed  more  than  an  academy  of  fine 
arts  and  sciences.  I  am  speaking  from  experience  and  with 
due  regard  for  sciences  and  arts  and  their  furthering.  But  let 
the  French  academy  be  transplanted  to  Constantinople  and  it 
will  only  vegetate  similar  to  the  orange  trees  in  the  green 
houses  of  Russia.  In  due  time  America  will  have  her  arts  and 
sciemces  just  as  Europe  does,  but  it  discloses  the  greatest  one- 
sidedness  to  think  of  such  afifairs  when  so  many  other  things 
must  first  be  done,  and  when  two-thirds  of  all  inhabitants  of 
the  West  have  no  window  panes  in  their  huts,  and  when  they 
have  to  deliver  their  products  to  the  city  on  pack  horses  for  a 
distance  of  ten  to  twenty  miles  through  wilderness."^"  Seals- 
field  characterizes  America's  higher  education  as  lacking  the 
completeness  and  finishing  touches  of  English  schooling  and 
the  systematic  erudition  of  Germany,  "but",  he  continues,  "it 
leaves  both  behind  in  the  art  of  stressing  the  practicable  and 
of  applying  it  to  life.  The  American  is  usually  too  impatient 
and  egotistical  to  apply  much  time  to  studying  or  to  speculative 
sciences.^^   He  does  not  study  for  an  education,  but  to  derive 

8^  Die  Vereinigten  Staaten,  v.  I,  pp.  31-32. 

90  Brauns,  Ernst,  Ideen,  pp.  582-583.  "America  has  up  to  now  not 
produced  a  philosopher;  for  while  there  were  roads  to  be  rooted  and 
swamps  to  be  drained  no  one  could  think  of  philosophizing."  (First 
bread  for  the  body,  then  bread  for  the  soul.) 

91  Die  Vereinigten  Staaten,  v.  I,  pp.  80-8L— Cf.  Korner,  G.  Be- 
leuchtung,  p.  47. 

89  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

benefit  from  what  he  learned  as  soon  as  possible.  He  desires 
to  learn  quickly,  and  only  that  which  is  absolutely  necessary 
for  his  living.  He  is  satisfied  with  the  elements  of  sciences, 
cUid  fills  in  the  gaps  with  experience,  reading  or  natural  keen- 
ness of  vision.  Philosophy  he  leaves  to  his  preacher,  poetry  to 
the  female  sex."  In  a  later  work,  Siiden  and  Norden,  we 
read  that  scientific  investigation,  truth,  and  knowledge  are 
worth  nothing,  "-"if  they  do  not  smell  of  dollars."  ""^Yet,  there 
are  two  branches  of  education  that  are  not  neglected:  firstly, 
that  received  in  the  elementary  schools,  which,  according  to  our 
writer,  constitutes  a  republic's  strength  ;"*  secondly,  that  of 
women,  which,  he  believes,  excels  that  of  any  other  country.^-' 

Concerning  music,  which  is  a  product  only  of  an  ad- 
vanced cultural  stage,  Sealsfield  makes  the  following  somewhat 
strange,  but  perhaps  true,  statement :  "^"We  are,  furthermore, 
very  careful  not  to  allow  ourselves  to  be  carried  away  by 
emotions  and  passionate  excitements,  and  it  is  especially  music 
which  softens  and  enervates.  Emotional,  sensitive  individuals 
as  well  as  nations  are  not  born  for  liberty." 

There  is  another  factor  which  in  our  opinion  is  invariably 
connected  with  a  true  democracy.  It  is  a  certain  leveling  power 
resulting  from  one  of  our  watchwords— equality.  Sealsfield 
noticed  it,  and  points  out  its  deteriorating  efifccts.  Colonel 
Morse  speaks  oi  the  American  curse  to  lower  everything  that 
enters  our  realm  to  a  crude  democratic  level. ''"^  George  Howard 
calls  ours  a  democracy  which  hammers  everything  over  one 
last,"^^  and  some  one  says  in  Virey:  ''everything  flat,  nothing 
marvelous."""     Even  plainer  are  the  author's  own  w^ords  in 

■'-  Siideu  iind  Norden,  pt.  I,  ]).  247.-~Cf.  Voij^n,  I.  E.,  Talvj,  foot- 
note 13. 

93  Voigt,  I.  E.,  'I'cdvj,  pp.  8-26,  gives  an  excellent  picture  of 
American  culture  during  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

•>4  Die   Fereiuif/ten  Staaten,  v.  I,  p]).  90-91.— Cf.  Ibid.,  p.  201. 

i'"'  Ibid.,  p.  88.— Cf.  Duke,  Bernhard,  Reise,  pt.  I,  p.  99ff.— Bristed. 
America,  p.  418. 

»«  Pflanzerleben,  pt.  II,  p.  70. 

^7  Kajiitenbuch,  pt.  I.  p.  201. 

»«  Pflanccrlcben,  pt.  I,  p.  264. 

99  Virey,  pt.  Ill,  p.  305. 

90 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

Wahlverwandtschaften:'^^^  ''Are  we  then  really  condemned  to 
prose  from  our  cradle  onward,  or  has  Nemesis  avenged  her 
cousins,  the  feudal  gods  of  this  earth,  from  whose  sway  our 
Puritan  ancestors  withdrew,  by  condemning  us  never  to  par- 
take in  their  magnificent  attributes,  their  flight  above  the  com- 
mon prosaic,  always  as  poor  Icarus,  to  fall  to  the  vulgar  depths, 
after  having  risen  on  paper  wings  to  the  higher  regions  of  the 
chivalrous?"^"*  Sealsfield  seems  to  blame  the  Puritan  fore- 
fathers not  only  for  the  blue  laws  in  the  East,  but  also  for 
bpnishing  joy,  happiness,  and  'everything  that  lifts  our  exist- 
ence above  that  of  animals,  from  our  daily  life.  (We  are 
speaking  of  his  time,  of  course.)  Herr  Bohne  in  Suden  und 
Norden,'^^'^  says :  "O,  stop  your  puritanical  shaking  of  the  head, 
your  censoring,  gloomy  glances.  Here  we  are  not  in  your  cold, 
frosty,  and  again  glowing,  scorching  Yankee-land,  where  sing- 
ing and  dancing,  happiness  and  joy  are  taboo;  we  are  in  the 
western  Hellas,  in  the  land,  where  the  Creator  was  more 
creative,  where  man  appeals  to  be  more  man,  where  ever- 
snowy,  silver  glaciers  look  down  upon  ever-blooming  banana, 
and  palm,  and  orange,  and  pomegranate  groves,  where  the 
elastic  ether  shows  more  elastic  forms,  and  where  the  spirited 
aromatic  vapors  are  turned  into  spirited  rhythms,  where  every 
step  is  poetry — where  the  smiles  of  a  child,  the  crying  of  an  in- 
fant, a  mother's  tears  of  happiness  become  poetry.  Just 
so  we  always  measure  human  dignity,  culture,  moral  and  social 
conditions  which  are  superior  to  our  cold,  out  of  fashion 
rules."io3 

100  ]Vahlvcnvandt<schaftcn,  pt.  III.  p.  LS8. 

101  Cf.  Coithe's  Faust,  pt.  I.  "Prolog  im  Himmcl",  11.  287-290. 

102  Sildcn  und  Nordcn,  pt.  I.  pp.  316-317. 

103  Cf.  Ralph  Donnhhy,  p.  215.  ".Are  we  really  stich  a  prosaic,  evcrv- 
day,  material,  cold-rea.soning  people?". — Cf.  Channing,  Wm.  E.,  Worhs, 
p.  168.  "Present  Age."  "Danger  from  romance  and  enthusiasm  in  this 
money-getting,  self-seeking,  self-indulging,  self-displaying  land?  I  con- 
fess that  to  me  it  is  a  comfort  to  see  some  outbreak  of  enthusiasm, 
whether  transcendental,  philanthropic,  or  religious,  as  a  proof  that  the 
human  spirit  is  not  wholW  engulfed  in  matters  of  business,  that  it  can 
lift  up  a  little  the  mounlain  of  worldliness  and  sense  with  which  it  is 
so  borne  down." 

91  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

All  virtues,  all  truly  great  traits,  Sealsfield  attributes  to 
the  free  life  on  the  free  soil,  under  God's  great  Heaven.  A 
man  who  tills  the  soil  experiences  different  forces  working 
within  than  does  he  who  lives  in  the  pestilential,  large  cities. 
The  whole  world,  his  entire  life  appears  to  be  different.  This 
is  expressed  by  the  author  in  a  letter  of  correspondence  for  the 
Morgenhlatt}^"^  He  and  a  friend  are  on  a  hill  admiring  a 
Shaker^^^  settlement  which  lies  peacefully  at  their  feet.  His 
friend  says :  "In  our  happy  land  fanaticism  never  assumes  that 
sober  and  misanthropical  character,  which  in  other  countries 
makes  it  so  deterring  and  even  dangerous.  Nature  is  here  too 
playful  to  let  a  man  be  swallowed  up  in  gloomy  brooding. 
Europe  has  sent  us  many  queer  mysticists,  here  they  become 
serviceable  people.  The  magnitude  and  freshness  of  nature, 
life  at  these  rivers,  in  these  verdant  valleys,  upon  these  plains 
swelling  with  an  inexhaustible  germinating  force — is  a  whole- 
some cure  for  many  injuries  of  the  old  world." 

But  much  more  important  is  what  we  hear  from  the  lips 
of  Compte  de  Vignerolles :  ^^''"In  the  midst  of  all  this  activity 
we  were  not  little  astonished  that  we  had  commenced  to  reason 
in  an  entirely  new  way  about  things  which  lay  before  us.  It 
was  a  republican-American  way,  I  should  say,  a  way  which 
had  not  the  least  connection  with  our  accustomed  manner  of 
speaking  and  thinking.  We  began  to  judge  our  affairs  and 
those  of  others  from  a  less  ideal  point  of  view ;  we  looked  at 
them  more  independently  just  as  we  began  to  become  more 
independent.  Quite  a  revolution  occurred  in  our  system  of 
ideas;  soon  the  affairs  of  public  life,  the  politics  of  Europe 
and  of  our  royal  house  we  looked  upon  from  an  entirely  new 

104  It  appeared  Jan.  19,  1828,  and  was  reprinted  by  Prof.  Otto 
Heller,  in  Gerrdan- American  Annals,  N.  S.,  v.  IX,  No.  I. 

105  f  his  sect  was  founded  by  Anne  Lee,  who  claimed  to  have  had  a 
vision  that  Christ  would  be  re-born  through  her.  She  came  to  the  U. 
S.  in  1740  or  1742.  In  1848,  there  existed,  although  she  had  died  without 
fulfilling  her  prophecy,  fifteen  settlements,  going  sometimes  under  the 
name  of  United  Society,  or  Millenial  Church.  Stuart,  James,  Three 
Years  in  North  America,  v.  I,  p.  286.— For  a  description  of  a  Shaker 
meeting  see  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  I,  pp.  295-296. 

106  Nathan,  pp.  Z7&2,77. 

92  


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

angle;  the  views  which  we  had  as  noblemen  were  lost  in  this 
birds-eye  view.  This  change  of  ideas  struck  us  as  a  singular 
psychological  phenomenon ;  for  as  we  had  not  discoursed  of 
these  matters  with  our  squatter  neighbors,  our  ideas  were 
spontaneous." 

In  the  preceding  chapter  the  attempt  has  been  made  to 
describe  the  United  States  in  their  political  and  social  status 
previous  to  a  change  in  conditions.  At  different  periods 
and  at  different  places  Sealsfield  received  less  favorable  im- 
pressions— these,  however,  will  be  reproduced  later.  What  he 
saw,  and  what  he  expected  of  our  democracy  we  can  sum 
up  in  the  following  words:  '^^'^"It  is  she  (democracy)  alone, 
who  has  broken  through  the  sevenfold  armor  of  our  cold 
selfishness,  armed  millions  of  mechanical  hands  with  a  free 
will,  broken  down  the  curtain  concealing  the  western  land 
from  the  East,  and  crossed  the  Alleghanies,  never  resting  until 
her  dominion  was  established  beyond  their  range^ — a  dominion 
equal  in  extent  to  the  Roman  with  its  imperial  lustre,  and 
which  has  been  gained  without  a  drop  of  blood^ — not  with  the 
sword,  but  with  the  axe ;  which  in  seventy  years  will  be  in- 
habited by  a  hundred  millions  of  free  citizens — a  monster 
republic,  resting  its  right  foot  on  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic, 
and  its  left  on  the  Pacific ;  sustaining  millions  of  freemen, 
living  under  the  law  of  Christ,  and  speaking  the  language  of 
Shakespeare  and  Milton !  That  country  will  be  an  England 
viewed  through  a  solar  microscope ;  an  England,  raised  to  the 

tenth  power  of  physical  and  moral  culture  and  develop- 
ment l''^^^ 

107  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  I,  pp.  291-292. 

108  Cf.  Braims,  Ernst,  Ideen,  pp.  265-266.  "And  you  fresh,  youthful 
America,  baptised  with  blood  by  the  hands  of  European  avarice,  and 
dedicated  to  liberty  with  this  bloody  christening,  encircled  and  pro- 
tected by  your  oceans,  blossom  in  your  greatness  for  thousands  of  years 
to  come  in  the  history  of  mankind— you  who  are  chosen  by  God." 


93 


Chapter  V. 
GENERAL  RETROGRESSION 

Politics — A  new  Economic  Force — Social  Life. 

Looking  back  upon  the  picture  of  American  life  which 
our  author  has  sketched,  we  must  admit  that  it  is  painted  in 
somewhat  bright  colors.  This  is  due  partly  to  the  author's 
strong  subjectivity,  partly,  no  doubt,  to  the  fact  that  he  had 
just  turned  his  back  upon  Metternich's  regime,  and  therefore 
wrote  with  a  decided  inspiration  of  contrast.  That  we  find 
contradictory  statements  in  his  works  can  easily  be  explained. 
His  observations  were  made  during  a  period  of  thirty  years, 
about  fifteen  of  which  lie  spent  in  different  states  of  the  Union 
as  a  resident  and  citizen.  It  goes  without  saying  that  during 
this  period  a  great  many  changes  took  place  in  the  make-up  c-f 
the  country  and  in  the  character  of  its  inhabitants,  all  of  which 
are  reflected  in  Sealsfield's  writings. 

Just  as  Sealsfield  describes  the  virtues  of  the  country  as 
being  founded  on  the  inherited  English  traits  of  character 
modified  by  environment  and  expressed  in  the  social  and 
political  institutions,  as  well  as  in  the  entire  mode  of  life,  so  he 
depicts  the  vices  of  the  land  either  as  wicked  importations 
from  England,  or  as  sprouts  of  a  too  luxuriant  growth.^  "Is 
it  not  rather  a  necessary,  absolute  condition  of  our  liberty  that 
citizens'  virtues  as  well  as  vices,  should  grow  more  luxuriantly, 
because  they  are  freely  permitted  to  grow  and  increase?"-  And 
the  Alcalde  expresses  this  in  his  own  language  in  the  following 
words :  -^"Tell  you,  you  always  find  the  deepest  valleys  with 

1  Heeren,  A.  H.  L.,  Europe  and  its  Colonies,  v.  I,  p.  284.  "Yet,  let 
the  eternal  truth  never  be  forgotten,  that  in  our  world  a  luxuriant 
growth  is  never  free  from  noxious  weeds." 

2  Ralph  Doughby,  p.  233.. 

3  Kajiitenhiich,  pt.  I,  p.  213. 

94  


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

the  highest  mountains,  the  most  glorious  achievements  by  the 
side  of  the  most  horrible  outrages.  The  one  is  the  necessary 
antipode  of  the  other;  never  does  anything  really  great  spring 
from  flat,  sandy,  common,  everyday  soil.  If  you  wish  to  erect 
a  large  building,  you  must  have  many  different  stones ;  do  you 
wish  to  form  kingdoms  and  states,  you  must  use  different  sorts 
of  men." 

That  phase  of  our  national  life  in  which  Sealsfield  de- 
tected corruption  first  is  politics.  Here  he  saw  a  constani 
struggle  between  two  opposing  forces,  the  democratic,  which 
was  in  power,  and  the  aristocratic,  which  would  gain  ascend- 
ency. The  aristocrats,  the  old  Federal  party,  or  Tories,  as  they 
were  called,  had  started  their  machinations  even  before  our 
constitution  was  framed.  Some  entertained  hopes  that  a 
European  monarch,  such  as  Prince  Henry,  brother  of  Frederick 
the  Great,  would  be  called  to  take  hold  of  our  government . 
monarchical  tendencies,  in  fact,  remained  awake  a  long  time."^ 
Colonel  Isling  says  the  following  to  Morton  :^  "They  wanted 
to  be  strong,  the  Adamses,*^  the  Hamiltons  and  so  forth — not 
to  have  sacrificed  their  blood  and  their  possessions  in  vain,  you 
understand ;  they  wanted  the  privilege  of  bequeathiing  their 
merits  and  the  country  to  their  descendants.  A  strong  govern- 
ment, of  course,  offered  the  best  opportunity  to  accomplish 
their  end,  for  through  it  they  could  establish  offices,  could  ob- 
tain a  good  hold  on  power  and  gradually  found  an  aristocracy 
of  merit,  out  of  which  an  aristocracy  of  birth  would  grow  in 
a  natural  way.  I  was  in  a  position  to  observe  their  game, 
especially  that  of  Hamilton,  who,  as  soon  as  the  war  was  over, 
attained  an  extraordinary  reputation.  He  was  their  hero — he 
was  an  importation  from  England,  a  disguised  Tory,  and  a 

■*  Cf.  Dunbar,  Lcnis  B.,  /I  study  of  Monarchical  Tendencies  in 
the  United  States  from  1776-1801,  wliich  is  to  appear  in  The  Univ.  of 
III.  Studies  in  the  Social  Scioices. 

•^  Morton,  pt.  I,  pp.  124-127. 

^  Refers  to  men  like  John  Adams,  who  next  to  Alexander  Hamil- 
ton was  the  great  leader  of  the  Federalists's  party,  until  a  dissension 
arose  out  of  Adams'  European  politics  which  left  only  an  insignificant 
moiety  with  the  president.  Also  John  Quincy  Adams  was  a  member  of 
this  party  during  the  early  part  of  his  political  career. 

95  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

favorite  of  the  so-called  good  families,  his  first  and  last  word 
was  always :  A  strong  government,  or  as  we  call  it  at  present, 
centralization/  Now,  a  central  government  is  one  where  the 
people  do  or  not  do,  not  what  they  want,  but  what  the  rulers 
vv^ant,  and  a  democratic  government,  on  the  other  hand,  is  one 
where  the  ruling  men  do  what  the  ruled,  the  people,  want. 
You  see,  in  these  two  participles  (ruling,  ruled),  one  active, 
the  other  passive,  and  their  corresponding  significance,  lies  the 
entire  difference  between  the  various  governments.  Happily, 
the  active  element  has  won  a  victory  amongst  the  people.  If 
this  were  not  the  case,  do  you  think  the  Union,  and  especially 
Pennsylvania,  would  be  what  she  is  ?  Pshaw  !  She  would  be 
what  the  inland  prairies  of  Russia  are  this  very  day.  Note 
well,  if  I  had  to  choose  between  rulers,  then  I  would  rather 
have  one,  a  strong  one,  but  not  three  hundred.  I  should  prefer 
to  be  a  Russian  rather  than  an  Irishman.  .  .  .  Under  a  govern- 
ment according  to  the  plans  of  Adams  and  Hamilton  the 
prominent  families,  to  be  sure,  would  have  become  greater,  but 
only  at  the  expense  of  thousands,  of  millions  of  less  prominent 
families.  Mansions  and  governmental  palaces  would  have 
arisen,  but  on  account  of  too  much  socage  people  would  have 
had  no  time  to  think  of  their  own  homes.  Hamilton  was  shot, 
by  a  wicked  man  to  be  sure,  but  judging  from  the  services 
which  he  has  rendered  to  the  people,  that  was  all  he  deserved. 
He  was  an  English  Tory,  and  from  England  nothing  good 
will  ever  come  to  America.  Those  gentlemen  had  the  in- 
tention of  raising  the  United  States  to  the  level  of  a  domain, 
which  they  and  their  so-called  good  families  were  desirous 
of  bleeding,  but  then  came  your  great-uncle,^  and  the  worthy 
Franklin  and  his  allied  great  genii — and  their  enemies'  air 
castles  tumbled,  and  America  became  what  it  was  destined  Lo 
become,  a  land  of  the  free,  which  helped  to  liberate  the  entire 

'^  Cf.  American  History,  No.  85,  "An  Opinion  of  Hamilton,"  by 
Secretary  Thomas  Jefferson,  ".  .  .  that  the  ultimate  object  of  all  this  is 
to  prepare  the  way  for  a  change  from  the  present  republican  form  of 
government,  to  that  of  a  monarchy,  of  which  the  English  constitution 
is  to  be  the  model." 

8  John  Morton,  who  was  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.     He  also  helped  to  frame  the  Articles  of  Confederation. 

__  96  


POUTICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

civilized  world,   and   which   to   look  upon,   is   a   joy   for   the 
philanthropist." 

When  Karl  Postl  came  to  America,  John  Quincy  Adams 
had  been  nominated  a  candidate  for  the  presidency,  and  the 
author  was  not  a  little  disappointed  to  see  that  there  was 
before  the  people  in  quest  of  the  highest  office  of  our  republic 
""as  dangerous  a  man  as  can  be,  who,  even,  if  he  were  sent  by 
the  Holy  Alliance,  could  not  act  more  in  her  interest. "^°  Later 
he  claims  that  in  the  presidential  election  of  1824  the  Union  was 
approaching  complete  dissolution,  ^^  and  that  at  no  other  time 
her  statesmen  proved  more  unworthy.  Since  Adams  was 
elected  by  the  Tories  and  through  the  treachery  of  Henry 
Clay,^-  the  entire  nation  was  his  opponent. ^"^  How  low  the  self 
esteem  of  the  nation  and  her  desire  for  liberty  had  fallen,  the 
author  illustrates  by  the  fact  that  Adams  was  elected  in  spite 
of  having  made  the  following  statement  while  he  was  Secretary 
of  State :  "The  United  States  will  not  be  ranked  among  nations 
till  the  presidency  becomes  hereditary."^*  In  the  first  volume 
of  Die  Vereinigten  Staaten  von  Nordamerika  nach  ihrem  po- 
litischen,    religiosen    und    gesellschaftlichen    Verhdltnisse    he- 

^  Die  Vereinigten  Staaten,  v.  I,  pp.  17-18. 

10  Cf.  On  the  contrary  Schurz,  Henry  Clay,  v.  I,  p.  154, 
'■.  .  .  .  Adams,  who  was  always  inclined  to  take  the  highest  ground  for 
his  country  against  any  foreign  power." 

11  Die  Vereinigten  Staaten,  v.  I,  p.  6. 

12  This  is  the  view  of  a  Jackson  man.  Many  newspapers  which 
had  thrown  their  influence  in  the  scale  for  Jackson,  denounced  Clay's 
unwillingness  to  vote  for  the  "Old  Hero"  as  a  sort  of  high  treason, 
(Cf.  Schurz,  Henry  Clay,  v.  I,  p.  241)  referring,  of  course,  to  that 
infamous  "bargain  and  corruption"  charge,  which,  although  satis- 
factorily refuted,  was  never  altogether  buried. 

IS  Die  Vereinigten  Staaten,  v.  I,  p.  19.  Though  this  was  not  true 
at  the  beginning  of  Adams'  term,  it  may  be  said  of  his  later  years  more 
appropriately,  for  the  twentieth  congress  had  a  majority  hostile  to  the 
administration  in  both  branches. — Cf.  Schurz,  Henry  Clay,  v.  I,  p.  286. — 
Cf.  Morse,  John  Quincy  Adams,  p.  193. 

14  The  United  States,  v.  I,  p.  20 — The  writer  found  no  authority 
for  this  somewhat  bold  statement  quoted  above.  Sealsfield,  "The  man 
of  the  people",  published  two  political  works — one  in  German,  the  other 
in  English,  in  time  for  the  election  of  1828;  here  he  tried  to  promote 
the  cause  of  his  candidate  by  making  adverse  statements  against  Adams. 

■  97 • 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELt) 

trachtet,  published  under  the  pseudonym  C.  Sidons,  he  has  a 
good  deal  to  say  about  John  Quincy  Adams : 

""The  intelligent  observer  cannot  refrain  from  serious 
reiiectioin  when  he  thinks  of  Adams  and  his  politics.  If  a  man 
gets  to  the  rudder  of  the  ship  of  state  in  such  a  manner  as 
Adams  did,  one  should  think  that  he  would  try  to  heal  by  means 
of  reconciliatory  acts  the  wounds  which  he  has  cut  into  the  in- 
jured self-esteem  of  the  nation,  and  that  he  would  not  pro- 
claim axioms  which  will  only  strengthen  her  in  the  thought 
that  he  was  aiming  at  autocracy.  One  should  expect  this  so 
much  more  of  a  man  who  is  such  a  cold,  calculating  diplomat, 
as  Adams  is,  who  in  addition  to  all  this  has  the  example  of  his 
father  before  his  eyes.  But  if  the  new  president,  on  the  con- 
trary, in  his  message  openly  announces  his  intentions  to  rule; 
if  he,  which  even  a  king  of  England  could  not  do,  calls  unto 
him  an  unpopular  Secretary  of  State, ^^^  and  keeps  him ;  if  he 
not  only  announces  his  desires  to  depart  from  the  accustomed 
system,  but  realizes  them  agaiost  the  will  and  the  interest  of 
the  nation,  and  to  spite  her;  if  he  decides  her  internal  and 
external  affairs  in  a  manner  hitherto  unheard  of;  if  he  assumes 
the  language  of  a  monarch  toward  the  representatives  of  the 
mdividual  states,  as  well  as  toward  foreign  powers : — then 
ihc  question  arises,  whether  such  a  man  is  not  a  monarch  de 
i'acto,  and  whether  in  a  republic  where  all  this  goes  on  un- 
heeded, the  autocratic  principle  has  not  already  gained  the 
upper  hand.  We  must  do  justice  to  Adams'  abilities  and  not 
suppose  that  he  knew  his  own  power  so  little,  as  to  follow  the 
promptings  of  a  blind,  mad  ambition.  Now  he  is  at  the  head 
of  the  party,^^  which  in  1812  proved  quite  clearly  that  it  was 
tired  of  a  republican  constitution.  At  that  time  he  left  the 
party  ^^  because  it  wanted  not  him  but  Englaind  as  a  ruler. 

^'^  Die  Vereinigien  Staaten,  v.  I,  pp.  47-49. 

1*^  Henry  Clay  was  by  no  means  more  unpopular  than  /Vdams  him- 
self. 

1"^  This  refers  to  the  Federals;  but  this  party  existed  in  1827  only 
by  name. 

18  He  had  left  the  party  as  early  as  1806. — Cf.  Morse,  Johti  Quincy 
Adams,  pp.  38-40. 

98  


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

Now  he  is  most  intimately  connected  with  it,  it  is  his  phalanx 
in  the  true  sense  of  the  word,  and  he  is  its  chief  and  organ. 
Through  it  he  has  the  New  England  states  entirely,  New  York 
and  New  Jersey  partly.  In  these  two  states  as  well  as  in 
Virginia  more  and  more  voices  are  heard  in  favor  of  a 
monarchical  system.  At  what  stage  of  corruption  and  bribery 
che  West  is,  the  last  presidential  election  has  shown. ^^  How 
patiently  the  nation  subjects  herself  to  her  ruler,  daily  ex- 
perience teaches  us !  .  .  .  .  The  Uinited  States  are  approaching 
a  crisis  which  will  decide  whether  the  republican  or  the 
monarchical  principle  will  be  predominant.  If  Adams  is 
capable  of  asserting  himself  in  the  next  election,  then  the 
nation  has  lost  all  feeling  for  right  and  liberty,  and  she  is 
sufiiciently  tamed  to  bend  under  the  yoke.  Unhindered  Adams 
will  be  able  to  follow  his  plans,  which  he  and  his  party  have 
drawn  up,  and  then  there  will  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  destination 
of  the  northern  states.  A  separation  from  the  western  and 
southern  states,  with  a  monarchical  constitution  must  be  the 
immediate  and  natural  consequence.  Then  the  riddle  will  be 
solved,  why  the  same  Adams,  who,  when  Secretary  of  State, 
resisted  so  lively  the  acknowledgement  of  the  South-American 
republics,-^'  now  suddenly  is  their  most  intimate  friend  in  spite 
of  the  danger  to  have  the  slave  states  of  the  Union  as  his  most 
bitter  enemy.-^ 

Sealsfield  criticises  most  severely  the  position  of  Adams 
and  Clay  on  the  South  American  question,  and  especially  the 
note  sent  to  St.  Petersburg,  May  10,  1825,  asking  for  the  inter- 
vention of  Russia  in  the  critical  affair  between  South 
America  and  Spain.     The  author  argues  that  Adams  should 

1^  The  author  is  probably  thinking  of  A'lissouri,  where  Scott  gave 
his  vote  to  Adams  after  he  was  given  assurance  that  his  brother,  then 
judge  in  Arkansas  territory,  who  was  threatened  with  the  loss  of  his 
office  because  he  had  killed  his  colleague  in  a  duel,  should  stay  in  office. 
— AiHcrican  Nation,  \.  XIV,  p.  263. 

~o  Not  a  true  statement. 

2t  For  the  opposition  of  the  slave  states  against  the  recognition  of 
the  South  American  republics  and  especially  against  the  Panama  Con- 
gress, compare  Morse,  John  Quincy  Adams,  p.  191  ff. 

99  


CHARI.es  SEALSFIEI.D 

either  have  maintained  complete  silence  at  that  time  and 
vvaited  for  further  development,  or  he  should  have  been  more 
decisive  and  direct  in  his  request,  instead  of  assuming  the 
ludicrous  role  of  a  second-hand  mediator. ^^  A  little  more  con- 
siderate is  his  criticism  of  Adams'  stand  on  the  question  of 
the  Panama  Congress  in  1826. 

Sealsfield's  judgment  of  Adams  is  perhaps  unduly  severe 
and  for  the  greater  part  unjust.  He  considered  him  an 
aristocrat  and  representative  of  the  old  party  of  Federals 
which,  although  out  of  existence  as  a  political  party,  still 
nourished  its  old  principles.  Soon  its  descendants  became 
strong  again  and  arose  under  the  name  of  National  Re- 
publicans and  later  under  the  nom  de  guerre  of  Whigs. -^ 
The  next  pages  shall  put  before  us  the  contest  between  this 
party  and  another,  which,  although  not  strictly  a  descendant 
of  Jefferson's  republican  party,  at  least  embodied  a  similar 
creed — at  the  present  time  they  were  merely  anti-Adams — the 
latter  in  power  in  Congress,  the  former  represented  by  Adams 
and  Clay. 

It  is  quite  interesting  to  listen  to  an  argument  between  an 
extreme  old-school  aristocrat,  and  a  democrat  of  the  new 
creed,  strange  to  say,  both  Adams  men,  who  give  expression 
to  their  views  at  the  time  of  the  campaign  of  1828.  The  for- 
mer begins : 

^^"  'You  observe  rightly,  .  .  .  the  spirit  of  that  time  (Jeffer- 
son's administration)  was  fresh,  democratic,  and  the  present 
era  is  like  it ;  but  it  is  beginning  to  be  exhausted,  and  we 
Federals  have  more  hopes  than  ever  of  regaining  power.  But 
we  must  not  fold  our  hands,  or  the  proper  moment  will  pass. 
If  political  influence  only  remains  ten  years  longer  in  the  hands 
of  these  people,  our  power  is  gone  forever.  New  families  will 
come  into  possession,  and  displace  us.     Moreover,  there  is  a 

22  Die  V ereinigten  Staaten,  v.  I,  pp.  32-34. 

23  Wahlverivandtsclmften,  pt.  IV,  p.  242. 

24  Ralph  Doughhy,  pp.  180-183. 

100  


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

mark  upon  us,  which  makes  it  very  difficult  for  one  of  our 
party  to  gain  any  influence.    Just  try  it !' 

'I  care  not  for  political  influence!' 

'You  are  wrong,  and  so  are  most  of  us.  The  people,  the 
nation  can  spare  us,  we  cannot  spare  them.  It  is  the  greatest 
folly  which  aristocrats  can  commit  to  believe  that  they  can 
successfully  oppose  the  people.  Our  fathers,  the  Federalists, 
framed  the  Constitution;  but  look  at  it,  how  it  stands.  It 
appears  as  a  frame  house  full  of  holes,  into  which  everybody 
enters  at  pleasure,  without  regarding  doors  or  windows ;  and 
why?  Because  democrats  have  the  keeping  of  the  building. 
The  longer  it  lasts,  the  worse  it  will  be.' 

'But  who  wishes  to  drink  whiskey  with  plebeians,  plough- 
men, cobblers  or  tailors,  or  to  lie  about  in  groggeries  ?' 

'Just  that  is  our  fault.  Because  we  are  too  proud  to  mix 
with  the  people,  they  turn  their  backs  on  us,  when  offices  are 
)o  be  filled,  which  require  trust  and  confidence.  We  lose 
ground,  and  our  old  families,  who  have  settled  the  country, 
and  fought  for  our  iindependence,  must  make  way  for  the  sons 
of  Irish  drunkards,  English  beggars,  and  French  hair-dressers, 
because  they  are  less  delicate.' 

'They  will  soon  be  forced  out  and  the  people  will  discard 
them.' 

'I  doubt  that,  for  the  people  look  at  us  with  suspicion. 
They  know  not  gratitude;  besides  these  persons  are  of  the 
people,  who  are  so  much  inclined  to  forget  the  services  of  our 
ancestors  in  the  matter-of-fact  present.  Meanwhile  their  in- 
clinations become  still  more  democratic,  or  rather  mobocratic ; 
"he  central  government  loses  its  authority;  our  House  of 
Representatives,  and  Congress  swarm  with  persons  without 
education,  without  position,  who  have  crowded  in  by  the 
lowest  flattery,  by  means  of  whiskey  feasts  and  stump  speeches. 
Our  offices  of  trust  will  be  degraded,  and  wiU  become  foot- 
men's places.' 

101 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

'Still  the  nation  is  well  governed,  and  was  never  more 
prosperous  than  at  present.  I,  moreover,  don't  think  much  of 
systems  of  government  designed  only  for  the  future,  and  use- 
less for  the  |)resent.  Let  the  people  alone — vox  populi,  vox 
Dei.   You  have  still  those  English    notions  im  your  head/ 

'But  they  are  not  so  very  contemptible.  Look  at  the 
aristocracy  of  England,  how  brilliantly  it  stands — upon  what 
a  pinnacle  of  unprecedented  grandeur  is  the  country  placed  I 
and  why?  Because  this  aristocracy  has  been  eighty  years  in 
])Ossession  of  power,  and  possessed  the  right  to  make  laws, 
and  protect  itself,  and  to  make  barriers  which  the  people  could 
not  over-leap.  We  ought  to  be  ashamed,  when  a  Briton  of 
good  family  comes  to  us  and  sees  this  pele-mele.  No,  this  must 
not  be,  we  must  try  by  all  means,  and  if  we  cannot  come  into 
j)Ossession  of  power  ourselves,  we  must  at  least  have  friends 
v/ho  will  act  with  us  and  in  our  interests.'  " 

The  novel  from  which  this  extract  is  taken  contains  a 
good  deal  of  campaign  material  for  Jackson. ^-^  Ralph  Dough- 
by,^^  a  delegate  of  the  Jacksonian  party,  favors  us  with  several 
speeches  made  for  the  benefit  of  Red  River  passengers,  after 
which  new  delegates  are  chosen  and  sent  out  amongst  the 
people  on  the  shore.  Thus  we  witness  the  first  installment  of 
an  extensive  electioneering  machinery,    which    from    now  on 

_  -'•  Ratlermann,  H.  A..  '-Charles  Sealsficld",  Jl'crke,  v.  X,  p.  14. 
claims  that  Sealsficld  acted  as  German  and  English  speaker  in  West- 
Pennsylvania  in  the  interest  of  Jackson's  party  dnring  the  election  of 
1824.     Rattermann,  however,  docs  not  cile  his  proofs. 

-•"'  In  Donghby,  the  author  puts  before  us  a  man  of  the  people, 
uncouth  and  rough,  but  liked  by  cveryl)ody  except  the  French  aristocrats 
of  Mississippi.  We  are  told  how  he  was  lately  elected  Major  in  a 
militia  regiment.  Some  captain  was  nominated,  and  would  probably 
have  been  elected,  when  Doughby  arrived,  and  a  general  cry  com- 
menced that  he  must  be  their  major.  "  'Done,'  cried  Doughby,  'done 
boys;  I  will  be  your  major;  but  let  us  drink  first'.  And  all  went  to 
the  hotel,  where  they  took  their  drink,  and  then  to  the  cigar  box,  into 
which  they  threw  their  tickets;  and  the  result?  Poor  Wielding  had 
scarcely  ten  votes.  Doughby  was  elected,  and  would  have  been  elected, 
had  it  been  for  governor  of  Louisiana;  and  why?  Because  he  drinks, 
fights,  smokes,  chews,  and  converses  with  planters,  hunters,  squatters, 
peddlers,  and  can  make  himself  agreeable  with  all,  and  yet  commands  a 
certain  respect  from  all."    Ralph  Donghhy,  pp.  184-185. 

102  ■ 


POLITICAL  AND  SOQAL  CONDITIONS 

was  to  be  used  at  every  election.  (Cf.  Schurz,  Henry  Clay, 
V.  I,  p.  280)  It  was  indeed  the  most  furious  and  disgustint:^ 
campaign  ever  witnessed  by  the  American  people.  The  spirit 
was  most  bitter  and  the  w^ords  most  rancorous  on  the  side  of 
Jackson ;  and  wdiy  shouldn't  it  have  been  ?  Did  not  the  intro- 
duction of  the  "spoils  system"  promise  ample  reward  to  every 
active  participant  if  his  candidate  should  wdn  out ! 

Jackson,  the  author  maintains,  will  never  be  as  dangerous 
for  the  nation  as  Adams  has  been,  and  will  be  in  case  he 
should  be  re-elected.  He  knows  "Old  Hickory's"  violent 
character  and  is  aware  of  the  danger  arising  from  arbitrary 
acts ;  yet  he  thinks,  the  people  can  protect  themselves  better 
against  those  than  against  steady  and  well  planned  under- 
mining of  their  rights,  "Rut,"  Sealsfield  continues,  "even  he 
is  not  safe  from  the  sneaking  poison  of  European  diplomacy,-' 
which  is  spreading  so  rapidly  in  our  country,  and  which  will 
soon  bring  the  nation  to  the  point  w^here  she  will  look  upon  an 
hereditary  monarch  as  a  benefactor. ^^  The  year  1828  will  be 
a  crisis  for  our  country,  and  will  decide  whether  her  citizens 
will  remain  free,  or  whether  they  will  be  separated  and  be- 
come subjects."-^ 

Jackson  was  elected — but  Sealsfield  was  not  satisfied. 
"''^'When  President  Jackson  took  hold  of  the  rudder  (he  says^i 
his  motto  was  reform  and  nothing  but  reform. ^^     To  be  sure 

27  Die  Ferciiiigtcn  Staatcii,  v.  I,  pp.  68-69. 

28  Jackson  lacked  only  little  of  being  an  autocrat,  which  is  partly 
proven  by  the  many  changes  in  his  cabinet.  He  dismissed  a  man  when 
he  no  longer  suited  his  purpose,  which  was,  of  course,  to  agree  with 
him  in  all  points  in  question.  Thus  he  had  during  his  two  terms  four 
Secretaries  of  State,  five  vSecretaries  of  Treasury,  two  Secretaries  of 
War,  three  Secretaries  of  Navy,  three  Attorney  Generals,  and  two 
Postmaster  Generals  (Cf.  Thorpe,  F.  N.,  edit.  Andrciv  Jackson,  p.  10.) 

29  Schurz,  Henry  Clay,  v.  I,  pp.  280-281,  speaking  of  Tacksonian 
newspapers,  says  :  "They  gradually  succeeded  in  making  a  great  many 
well-meaning  people  believe.  .  .  that  if  such  a  dreadful  event,  as  thr 
re-election  of  Adams,  shoidd  happen,  it  would  inevitably  be  the  end 
of  liberty  and  republican  institutions  in  America." 

30  li'ahlverwandtschaften,  pt.  II,  pp.  344-345. 

31  This  "reform"  was  indeed  far  reaching.  The  number  of  men 
dismissed  from  office  in  the  various  departments,  simply  because  they 

•   103 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

be  kept  his  promise  ....  The  voice  of  the  people  was  with 
him, ^2  but  he  did  not  always  have  his  eyes  on  the  Lord,  and 
consequently  there  arose  idolaters,  called  demagogues, ^^  who 
created  the  golden  calf  of  idolatry,  took  the  word  reform  as 
their  motto,  and  attempted  to  overthrow  with  it  the  old  God 
and  faith,  namely  constitution  and  customs."  Later,  in  1839, 
Sealsfield  speaks  of  the  lawlessness  and  violence  of  Andrev/ 
Jackson,^"*  and  elsewhere^^  he  refers  to  his  hatred  for  bankers 
and  moneyed  people. ^^  Thus  we  see  that  the  author  was  dis- 
appointed in  the  man  whom  he  had  admired  so  much  during 
his  military  career,  and  as  a  candidate  for  the  presidency. 

More  than  that,  he  even  believed  the  very  base  of  our 
democracy  unstable,  shaking  the  entire  structure  and  threaten- 
ing its  fall.  *'^^Oh,  Democracy !  a  precious  thing  thou  art  on 
paper,  but  I  doubt  whether  thy  great  apostle  (Jefferson) 
would  be  still  the  same  zealot  in  1828  (the  novel  was  written 
about  1836),  as  he  was  in  1801.  Terrible  are  the  effects  of 
these  cancers  !  Terrible  this  kind  of  democratic  government ! 
The  former  order  of  things  which  was  the  support  of  our 
laws,  the  entire  formation  of  our  civil  code,  it  cannot  be 
denied,  received  its  tone  and  its  tendency  from  Old  England. 
Our  respect  for  the  law,  the  main  rampart  of  our  social  order, 
is  mostly  an  inheritance  from  the  time  when  England  ruled  us 
with  a  strong  hand,  by  which  she  controlled  the  passions  of 
the  people,   and  maintained  that  authority,    which    she    has 

were  not,  or  at  one  time  had  not  been,  Jackson  men,  is  astonishing?. 
While  the  first  six  presidents  made  in  all  seventy-four  removals,  Jack- 
son dismissed  from  office  during  the  first  year  of  his  administration 
four  hundred  and  nineteen  postmasters  and  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
nine  other  officers. — Cf.  Schurz,  Henry  Clay,  v.  I,  p.  334. 

32  Jackson,  perhaps  more  than  any  other  president,  was  a  popular 
idol. 

33  Does  Sealsfield  mean  Jackson's  political  advisers — his  "kitchen- 
cabinet"? — ^Cf.  Wahlverwandtschaften,  pt.  IV,  p.  247. 

34  Ihid.,  pt.  Ill,  pp.  363-364. 

35  Morton,  pt.  II,  p.  41. 

36  Cf.  Richardson,  J.  D.,  Messages  and  Papers,  v.  Ill,  p.  30,  where 
Jackson  justifies  the  removal  of  deposits  from  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States.    Also  Schurz,  Henry  Clay,  v.  I,  pp.  353,  2>77-?)7^;  v.  II,  p.  25. 

37  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  I,  pp.  2>2-ZZ. 

104  — 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

understood  how  to  preserve  for  her  great  national  name. 
Transmitted  to  us,  it  gave  also  to  our  ship  of  state  that 
direction,  which  was  long  felt  after  the  helmsman  had  left  his 
post.  The  gallant  ship  pursues  her  course,  even  after  the  helm 
is  abandoned.  But  the  tackle  begins  to  slacken,  the  ropes  give 
way,  the  authority  of  great  historical  men  has  vanished.  Our 
shoemakers  and  tailors  speak  of  Washington  and  Franklin  as 
of  their  apprentices  and  every  whipster  believes  himself 
capable  of  rearing  a  better  fabric  of  a  state.  Gloomy 
symptoms  of  basely  corrupted  vigor!" 

The  following  passage  shows  that  Sealsfield  perceived 
clearly,  and  interpreted  boldly,  but  probably  correctly,  the 
political  life  of  his  day.  ''^^In  our  democracy  many  good 
qualities  are  certainly  to  be  found,  but  it  would  be  in  vain  to 
seek  there  for  that  old  virtue,  styled  sincerity.  It  is  un- 
doubtedly comprised  of  many  excellent  ingredients,  but  also  of 
envy,  deception,  ambition,  slander,  and  avarice,  which  serve 
our  so-called  democratic  politicians  or  demagogues,  as  a  rich 
treat,  filling  their  mouths  with  the  eloquence  of  false  prophets, 
with  the  most  ardent  expressions  of  patriotism,  of  generosity, 
and  of  desire  to  promote  their  fellow  citizens'  happiness,  while 
they  themselves  grasp  the  fattest  morsels  in  consideration  of 
their  patriotic  exertions."  How  true  today !  Does  a  democratic 
government  always  lead  to  corruption?  Was  ours  not  more 
corrupt  during  the  war,  when  it  lacked  very  little  to  make  it 
most  autocratic?  May  the  twentieth  century  answer  these 
questions.  It  will  see  new  republics  arise,  and — perhaps 
proper. 

It  is  of  the  utmost  interest  to  observe  how  Sealsfield 
treats  of  the  economic  forces  and  issues  which  either  arose  or 
culminated  in  this  period.  A  democracy  has  few  rewards  as 
compensation  of  service.  There  are  no  honors  which  stimulate 
her  citizens  to  noble  and  note-worthy  deeds ;  nor  do  there  exist 
decorations,  which  furnish  the  means  of  reward  for  distinction 
so  frequently  in  the  Old  World.    Outside  of  money  she  can 

38  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  I,  pp.  204-205. 

•  105  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

offer  few  compensations,  and  we  can  well  understand  how  the 
acquisition  of  wealth  becomes  one  of  the  most  powerful 
motives  of  individual  endeavor.  Sealsfield  says  on  one 
occasion :  "^^With  us  money  takes  the  place  of  love,  it  covers 
many,  or  rather  all  sins,"  and  Tokeah  believes  that  the  hearts 
of  white  men  do  not  beat,  as  do  those  of  the  red  skins,  they 
rattle  because  they  contain  only  dollars.**^  This  love  of  money 
has  caused  classes  to  arise  v^athin  the  nation  which  are  almost 
as  well  confined  as  are  those  of  old  Europe.  "*^The  man  w^ho 
has  a  hundred  thousand  dollars,  will  not  condescend  to  look  at 
the  ons  who  has  but  fifty  thousand ;  and  the  latter  is  as 
arrogant  toward  him  who  has  only  ten  thousand.  You  are  just 
as  respectable  as  you  are  heavy."^-  Mr.  Ramble'*"''^  introduces 
his  political  friends  to  Baron  von  Schochstein  as  Mr.  X,  who 
is  worth  a  million,  Mr.  Y,  worth  six  hundred  thousand,  et 
cetera.** 

As  pointed  out  in  the  introduction  to  this  work,  Morton, 
oder  die  grosse  Tour  deals  with  the  power  of  money  over  man, 
and  with  the  tremendous  influence  gold  has  in  social  life  and  in 
politics.  Nowhere  in  the  literatures  of  other  countries  has  the 
writer  found  as  early  in  the  nineteenth  century  a  work  of 
equal  volume,  the  essence  of  w^hich  seems  to  be :  Money  is 
power;  money  rules  the  world.  There  is  a  period  in  the 
history  of  every  state  when  the  moneyed  interests  come  to  be 
felt  in  politics.*"'  In  Europe  it  began  with  the  reign  of  Louis 
XIV — in  America,  during  the  Jacksonian  democracy.  When 
money  became  plentiful  in  the  hands  of  some  people  in 
America,  it  was  a  safer  |)ossession  than  in  most  other 
countries,  and  attained  more  influence  for  the  possessor  of  the 

39  Morton,  pt.  I,  p.  211. 

40  Der  Lcgithiic,  pt.  TIT,  p.  163. 

41  Ralph  Dongh.hy,  p.  85. 

42  Cf.    Griind,  Francis,  Arislocraiic,  v.  I,  p.  44. 
4-^  IVahlverwandtschaficu,  pt.  11,  pp.  244-245. 

44  Cf.    Marryat,  Frederick,  Diary,  Ser.  I,  v.  I,  p.  289.— Cf.    Nichols, 
Thomas  L.,  Forty  Years  of  American  Life,  v.  I,  p.  402. 

45  Cf.   Schurz,  Henry  Clay,  v.  II,  pp.  322,  353,  377;  v.  II,  p.  25. 

106  • 


POLITICAL  AND  SOQAL  CONDITIONS 

fortune.  Lomond  tells  us  that  America  was  the  only  safe 
abode  of  money  tyrants. ^'^  These  wholesale  merchants,  for 
that  was  usually  their  business,  are  sovereign  powers,  as 
sovereign  as  are  the  monarchs  that  rule  countries;  they  have 
their  subjects,  their  cabinets,  and  their  alliances  as  have  the 
great  powers  of  Europe. "*''  They  rule  the  nations  through  their 
own  w^ants  and  needs. '^^  No  one  can  eat,  drink,  or  have  his 
being  without  paying  a  heavy  tribute  to  these  modern  tyrants. 
They  are  as  dangerous  as  autocrats — ^they  are  themselves 
autocrats,  in  a  way.  When  the  people  suffer  from  want,  when 
the  nation  suffers,  then  they  have  won  a  victory,  then  they  are 
at  their  goal.*^ 

Stephen  Girard,"'"  wholesale  merchant,  banker,  and 
philanthropist,  as  he  was  called  after  his  death,  or  mis- 
anthropist, as,  during  his  life  time  most  everyone  believed 
him  to  be,  is  one  of  the  principal  characters  in  Morton.  Chapter 
VI  of  part  T,  Das  lever  des  alien  Stephy,  oder  We  are  in  a  Free 
Country  (pp.  133-211)  deals  entirely  with  the  odd  man  and 
his  ways  and  means.  In  the  second  part,  which  takes  us  1o 
London,  where  Morton  acts  as  agent  of  Girard,  Lomond,  of 
whom  Stephy  is  the  prototype,  is  a  leading  character.  Here, 
in  London  we  see  the  inner  workings  of  society.  We  see 
princes  begging  to  have  another  month  on  a  note,  and  princes- 
ses offering  their  last  jewel,  and  finally  their  virtue,  to  have 
their  credit  extended.  "''^Do  you  see  now",  says  Lomond  to 
Morton,    "what  brings  the  duke,    and    the  marquis,    and  the 

•*6  Morton,  pt.  11,  p.  114. 

47  Morton,  pt.  I,  pp.  204-205. 

48  Ibid.,  pt.  I,  p.  192. 
4«  rind.,  pt.  II,  p.  90. 

''(^  Brothers.  Thomas,  Tlic  Ihiitcd  States,  pp.  113-131,  "On  the 
Character  of  Stephen  Girard.  the  banker,"  shows  that  his  biography, 
written  by  the  son  of  one  of  his  cashiers  is  a  gross  misrepresentation. 
Yet  Brothers'  Inographical  sketch,  wliile  it  tears  to  pieces  the  other 
work,  is  in  itself  such  a  rank  falsification,  that  Ave  are  unconsciously 
reminded  of  Mrs.  Trollop's  book.  Parton,  James,  famous  Americans. 
pp.  223-257  gives  an  entirely  different  and  very  favorable  picture  of 
him. 

••^1  Morton,  pt.  11,  pp.  100-101. 

107  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

count,  and  the  viscount  before  your  door  as  supplicants ;  and 
what  drives  women  to  turn  wantons,  and  finally  — ;  what 
causes  monarchs  to  flee  from  their  thrones,  and  makes  traitors 
out  of  statesmen?  But  today,  my  dear  Mr.  Morton,  there  are 
no  more  traitors  because  grandees  have  no  longer  a  fatherland, 
no  longer  a  religion.  These  exist  only  for  the  canaille:  grandees 
have  only  interests.  That  is  the  chain  which  links  together 
aristocrats  of  birth  and  money,^-  namely  us,  the  rulers  of  the 
world."  But  the  novel  is  just  beginning  to  lead  up  to  the 
climax.  We  hear  how  these  plutocrats  meet,  compare  notes, 
and  determine  the  destiny  of  families  and  countries. 

"  '^^We  are  ten',  said  the  man  (Lomond)  with  an 
elevated  voice,  'distributed  over  the  entire  world,  and  never- 
theless we  are  together  every  day  and  hour ;  united  by  no  bond, 
and  again,  by  the  most  intimate  bond,  the  bond  of  common 
interest,  which  shall  give  to  the  world  a  new  shape  sooner  or 
later.  In  London  we  are  five.  We  meet  every  week,  compare 
notes  and  determine  the  course  of  events  in  this  world.  The 
mysteries  of  finance  of  this  country  and  of  all  others,  and  the 
mysteries  of  their  existence  lie  clearly  before  our  eyes.  No 
country,  no  family,  no  class  of  people,  which  ever  came  in 
contact  with  us,  has  escaped  our  anatomical  lance.  We  are 
holding  in  our  hands  the  threads  of  existence  of  every  state 
and  every  family,  from  the  very  highest  down  to  the  very 
lowest.  In  our  debit  there  are  billions,  states  and  families, 
kings  and  emperors.  Our  notes  are  as  those  in  the  book  of  the 
Eternal  Judge.  Public  credit  and  domestic  weal,  the  well-being 
of  the  three  kingdoms,  and  of  all  countries  in  the  civilized 
world,  i.  e.,  the  debt-contracting  world,  the  weal  and  woe  of 
trade  and  trafiic,  depend  upon  our  wills  and  whims.  What  is 
the  miserable  secret  service  of  the  entire  continent  compared 
with  that  paid  by  us,  masters  of  the  world ;  for  such  we  will  be 
sooner  or  later.    Before  long  we  shall  occupy  the  place  of  these 

f>2  Cf.  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  II,  pp.  52-53.  "The  power  of  the  moneyed 
aristocracy,  which  as  mediatress  between  nations  and  thrones,  balances 
each  in  her  scales." 

53  Morton,  pt.  II,  pp.  114-118. 

108 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

aristocrats  entirely.  We  shall  be  the  closest  to  the  thrones, 
Mr.  Morton !  And  these  thrones  shall  not  be  less  stable  for 
it.  France,  now  gnashing  in  her  fetters ;  Germany,  phlegmatic, 
somnambulant ;  Spain,  lazy  and  bigoted,  and  miserable  Italy, 
gnawing  at  the  bones  of  her  three-thousand-year-old  fame — ■ 
they  all  must  bend  and  give,  and  all  countries  of  the  earth 
must  follow^ ;  for  our  miners  are  at  work.  We  send  our  am- 
bassadors daily,  hourly;  every  sack  of  coffee,  every  can  of  tea, 
every  bale  of  goods,  every  loan  gives  a  better  foundation  to  our 
reign.  Pshaw,  and  there  are  fools,  w^ho  say  we  love  money — 
it  is  true,  we  do  love  it,  but  much  more  do  we  love  to  rule,  for 
sway  and  domination  are  sweeter  than  gold.  .  .  .  There  are 
others  who  think  that  we  are  working  for  the  piggish  mob — 
Pshaw !  We,  the  moneyed  interest,  the  moneyocracy  fighting 
for  the  piggish  mob !  We  are  fighting  against  aristocracy  of 
birth,  but  we  are  fighting  for  ourselves.  .  .  .  Here,  within  these 
paltry  disconsolate  walls  the  greatest  hero,  who  has  fought 
battles  by  the  dozen,  has  become  soft  and  mild,  as  does  a  poor 
sinner  who  is  about  to  be  tossed  over  into  eternity;  here  the 
Avildest  lover,  whom  one  word  from  his  beauty  would  have 
moved  to  ecstacy,  or  again  to  madness,  has  lain  upon  his  knees ; 
here,  the  statesman  who  tramples  upon  millions,  has  writhed ; 
here,  the  merchant  who  has  millions ;  here,  atheists  who  never 
pronounced  the  name  of  God  but  with  a  sneer,  learned  to  pray 
to  the  eternal  God ;  here,  dukes  and  the  sons  of  kings  will  learn 
to  pray,  young  man,  and  in  the  most  beautiful  manner  for, 
here',  and  he  stroked  his  brow  with  his  hand,  'are  the  scales 
which  will  v/eigh  the  destiny  of  millions  and  millions.'  " 

As  Richard  M.  Meyer  has  shown  in  Deutsche  Arbeit,  v. 
VI,  (pp.  510—512)  this  passage  was  taken  from  Honore  de 
Balzak's  Gobseck.^"^  Here  as  well  as  there,  the  passage  marks 
the  climax  and  is  the  ecstatic  expression  of  an  old  plutocrat, 
who  tells  us  of  the  new  use  to  which  money  is  put.  It  is  no 
longer    simply    a   means    of     acquiring  estates    and   beautiful 

54  Balzac,  Honore,  de,  Oeuvres  completes,  Paris,  1899,  v.  Ill,  pp. 
479-480. 

109  — — 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

mansions,  surrounded  by  wood-like  parks  in  which  these 
humans  vegetate,  albeit  in  luxury  and  super-abundance ;  it  has 
now  become  a  means  of  attaining  influence,  of  ruling  over 
thousands  and  millions,  of  making  them  happy,  and — unhappy. 

This  love  for  money  is  another  trait  which  the  American 
has  in  common  with  the  Englishman.  Yet  according  to  Seals- 
held  it  is  even  more  pronounced  in  the  English  character,  and 
the  possession  of  riches  is  more  determining  in  the  individual's 
life.  Without  money  he  might  as  well  not  exist.  May  the 
author  speak  to  us :  "^^^Pshaw !  John  Bull  ridicules  Brother 
Jonathan's  love  of  dollars,  and  certainly  we  love  dollars.  It  is 
a  strong  mote  in  our  eye,  this  perpetual  dollar-seeking,  I  con- 
fess, but  the  ridicule  does  not  sit  well  on  John  Bull  with  the 
beam  in  his  own  eye.  Certainly  we  love  dollars,  and  are  busily 
engaged  in  finding  them ;  but  if  we  lose  them  again,  we  do  not, 
like  John  Bull,  cut  our  throats.  I  do  not  know  that  one  re- 
spectable American  has  ever  hanged  or  drowned  himself  on 
account  of  the  loss  of  his  dollars,  as  the  English  do  daily.  1,-et 
John  Bull  say  what  he  will,  the  man  is  still  of  some  value  with 
rs  apart  from  his  dollars;  but  with  him  a  man  is  not  worth  a 
straw  more  than  his  guineas.  For  this  reason  the  English  ex- 
pression 'he  is  worth  so  much',  has  remained  in  our  seaport 
towns,  and  has  never  prevailed  in  the  country.  The  British 
character  has  undoubtedly  many  brilliant  traits,  such  as  justice, 
manliness,  and  greatness  and  strength  of  soul,  but  it  has  also 
ugly  ones,  and  amongst  them  are  greediness  for  wealth,  which 
does  not  allow  him  to  consider  it  as  a  means,  but  as  the  highest 
aim  of  life,  or  rather,  as  a  kind  of  higher  being,  to  obtain  whidi 
he  does  not  hesitate  at  the  most  desperate  things.  The  Briton 
serves  Turk,  and  Jew,  Carlist  and  Christians,  for  the  sake  of 
money.  We  do  not — we  fight  only  for  liberty !  He  would 
mercilessly  tear  the  coin  out  of  your  entrails  with  iron  claws ! 
God  pity  the  poor  fellow  who  treads  penniless  the  soil  of  Great 
Britain!  With  us,  hundreds  of  thousands  expelled  by  European 
tyranny  find  their  morsel  of  bread.  Say  what  you  please,  there 
is  still  in  the  British  character  something  hard  and  unfeeling. 

55  Kajutenbuch,  pt.  II,  pp.  198-200. 

110  


POLITICAI.  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

which  constantly  reminds  one  of  the  Norwegian  and  Norman 
pirates,  and,  much  as  it  has  been  poUshed  off  in  the  eight  or 
nine  hundred  years  of  his  appearance  on  the  stage  of  the 
world,  he  has  never  quite  thrown  it  off,  no  matter  where  he 
lives,  whether  in  Europe,  or  in  Asia,  or  in  the  East  or  West 
Indies." 

It  seems  that  this  very  fact,  namely  that  the  English  are 
more  greedy  and  selfish  than  we  are,  is  one  of  the  reasons 
why  we  have  such  a  hatred  for  that  country.  There  is  a 
certain  jealousy  in  that  hatred,  which  casts  a  bad  reflection 
upon  both  nations.  The  Alcalde  is  an  exponent  of  this  sort  of 
dislike  for  Great  Britain.  Of  him  the  author  says :  ""'^'His  com- 
posedness  was  permanent ;  only  when  he  began  to  speak  of  the 
Britons  did  he  get  a  little  more  excited.  These  he  hated,  to 
use  his  own  expression,  with  all  his  heart,  with  all  his  soul, 
with  all  his  mind,  and  with  all  his  strength,  only  because  they 
are  still  more  selfish  than  ourselves — a  peculiarity  characteristic 
of  genuine  American  hatred  which  first  disclosed  to  me  the 
nature  of  our  hatred  for  the  Britons." 

This  same  love  for  money,  misled  by  the  adventurous  spirit 
of  the  Americans,  brought  about  another  evil  which  made 
itself  felt  in  Jackson's  time,  but  did  not  attain  its  climax  until 
his  successor,  Martin  Van  Buren,  occupied  the  chair.  Jackson, 
after  moving  several  Indian  tribes  from  southern  states,"''  sold 
their  land  to  the  public.  Soon  a  misuse  crept  into  this  land 
sale.    Land  was  sold  and  resold  only  on  the  map.-^^  Speculators 

5»''  Kajutenhuch,  pt.  I,  p.  190. 

''"^  Concerning  this  removal  and  the  attitude  of  some  politicians  as 
well  as  that  of  Great  Britain  toward  this  act  against  their  former 
confederates,  we  hear  the  following  in  Kajiiteiibuch,  pt.  I,  pp.  117-118: 
"This  removal,  as  yon  know,  drew  forth  in  profusion  the  tears  of  all 
our  old  political  women ;  and,  still  more  astonishing,  found  many  op- 
posers  amongst  our  good  Yankees — echoes  of  our  equally  good  friends 
in  Great  Britain,  to  whom,  certainly,  it  could  not  be  very  pleasing  to 
see  their  confederates  so  entirely  expelled  from  the  midst  of  us.  Ah, 
British  humanity,  how  lovely  it  appears,  when  observed  closely.  Much, 
much  too  full  of  love !  God  preserve  us  from  the  love  of  British 
humanity."  Happily  Jackson's  iron  soul  had  not  a  spark  of  their 
super-love. 

^'^  Cooper,  James  Fenimore,  Home  as  found,  v.  I,  pp.  116-118, 
gives  us  an  insight  into  a  land  market. — Cf.  Ibid.,  v.  I,  p.  29.     "Some 

,   111   


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

laid  it  out  and  sold  it  for  ten  times  the  value  which  they  had 
paid  for  it,  taking  notes  and  paper  money  instead  of 
specie. ^^  In  Wahlverzuandtschaften^^  Sealsfield  speaks  of  this 
speculation,^^  or  swindle- fever,  as  he  calls  it.  He  claims  that 
it  is  an  expression  of  the  national  character,^-  and  that  it  has 
come  every  ten  to  twenty  years,  and  will  continue  to  come  at 
the  same  intervals.  This  excessive  speculation,  aided  by  other 
factors,  such  as  a  large  foreign  debit^^  and  a  currency  inflated 
with  worthless  bank  notes^*  brought  about  one  of  the  greatest 
catastrophies  in  the  commercial  and  social  world.  May,  1833 
the  American  paper  system  avenged  itself  :  Banks  refused  to 
pay  specie;  they  could  not.  And  now  the  moneyed  interests 
proved  how  strong  they  wxre.  They  had  compelled  the  govern- 
ment to  put  its  revenue  at  their  disposal,  and  now,  that  Van 
Buren  wanted  an  independent  national  bank  which  would 
accept  only  hard  money,  all  moneyed  people  were  against  him. 
They  formed  a  political  party,  which  wanted  to  retain  paper 
money,  almost  as  the  only  means  of  trading,  and  which  op- 
posed anything  that  would  attack  its  own  plutocracy.  In 
W ahlverwandtschaften,  pt.  II,  pp.  268 — 276,  we  have  an  op- 
portunity to  attend  a  caucus  of  politicians  who  are  making  up 
resolutions  to  oppose  the  introduction  of  specie  as  the  only 
legitimate  means  of  trading.  They  claim  it  will  destroy  the 
entire  credit  of  the  individual  and  of  the  nation,  and  with  it  all 

our  way  (lawyers)  have  gone  into  the  horse-line;  but  much  the  greater 
portion  are  just  now  dealing  in  western  cities.  .  .  .  and  in  mill-seats,  and 
in   railroad  Hues,  and  other  expectations." 

59  Andrew  Jackson  had  commanded  the  price  for  public  land  to  be 
paid  in  specie.    He  doubted  the  solvency  of  some  banks. 

60  Wahlverwandtschaftcn,  pt.  IV,  p.   142. 

61  Cf.  Kajiitenbiich,  pt.  I,  p.  22. 

62  Marryat,  Frederick,  Diary,  Ser.  I,  v.  I,  p.  57,  calls  the  disease  of 
excessive  speculation  peculiarly  English  and  American. 

63  Cf.    Wahlverwandtschaftcn,  pt.  IV,  p.  144. 

64  Worthless  for  two  reasons:  firstly,  most  banks  put  much  more 
paper  money  into  circulation  than  they  had  hard  money  in  reserve; 
secondly,  the  number  of  counterfeited  bank  notes  was  unbelievable. 
Bicknall's  Counterfeit  Dctccter  and  Bank-Note  List  of  January  1,  1839, 
enumerates  thirteen  hundred  and  ninety-five  counterfeited  or  altered 
notes  then  supposed  to  be  in  circulation. 

112  


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

enterprise  and  every  virtue  in  man  which  has  raised  the  Union 
to  its  present  height/'^  This  caucus  is  only  prehminary  to  a 
''glorious  democratic  Whig  meeting  in  Tammany  Hall"  which 
for  the  sake  of  drawing  a  large  crowd  is  announced  with 
placards  having  the  following  headlines :  2,000  homicides, 
1,500  divorces,  1,000  atrocities,  800  felonies,  600  cholera 
morbus ! 

Not  only  the  economic  problems  treated  of  in  the  pre- 
ceding pages  centered  around  money,  but  also  social  life  re- 
volved around  this  same  great  factor  in  our  public  and  private 
life.^*^  In  the  English  translation  of  his  first  book  the  author 
says:  "'^''Social  orders  as  yet  there  are  none,  but  they  are  de- 
veloping in  the  same  way  as  wealth,  luxury, ^^  ambition,  and 
sciences,  on  the  one  side,  and  poverty,  ignorance  and  indirect 
oppression  on  the  other  side,  are  increasing.  Here,  as  every- 
where else,  this  is  the  natural  course  of  things."  But  it  seems 
to  be  especially  the  first,  wealth,  and  its  antipode,  poverty, 
which  establish  classes.  As  mentioned  before,  the  amount  of 
money  which  a  person  possessed  put  him  in  a  certain  class. 
We  are  now  to  witness  the  struggle  between  aristocracy  and 
plutocracy,  or  aristocracy  of  birth  and  aristocracy  of  money, 
as  Lomond  called  it.  In  George  Howard'^^  this  class  is  called 
mushroom  aristocracy ;  Stephy  calls  these  parvenues  would-be- 
aristocrats,  and  describes  them  as  "^^miserable  stuff!  Sons  of 
runaway  Irish  and  Scotch,  who  were  cobblers  and  tailors." 
Elsewhere^^  they  are  termed  the  existing  and  are  defined  with 

f'5  For  arguments  against  credit  see  JVahhcrzvaiidfschaftcn,  pt.  IV, 
pp.  144-145. 

6^  Cf.  Cooper,  James  Fenimore,  The  American  Democrat,  pp. 
45,  82. 

67  The  United  States,  p.  VII I. 

68  The  following  are  references  to  passages  where  luxury  is  called 
a  vital  force  in  the  downfall  of  democratic  ideals  in  the  United  States  : 
Jefferson,  Writings,  v.  IV,  p.  188. — Brauns,  Ernst,  Ideen,  pp.  187,  259. — 
Cooper  James  F.,  Die  N ord-Amerikaner ,  v.  I,  p.  124. — Schmidt,  Fried- 
rich,  Versuch  iiber  den  politischen  Ziistand  der  Vereinigten  Staaten,  v. 
I,  p.  484. 

69  George  Howard,  p.  21. 

70  Morton,  pt.  I,  p.  166. 

71  Wahlverwartdtschaften,  pt.  Ill,  p.  61. 

113  . 


CHARI^ES  SEALSFIELD 

the  following  words :  ''The  existing  are  the  good  individuals, 
the  elite,  the  cream  on  the  surface  of  this  aggregate  of  four- 
teen millions  of  human  beings,  styled  American  nation,  and 
composed  of  plebeian  vulgarity,  of  shoe  makers,  tailors, 
mechanics,  and  farmers,  the  fraction  of  the  hundreds  of 
thousands  which  follow  in  the  train  of  the  fourteen  millions, 
these  are  the  existing,  thus  styled  for  the  sake  of  distinction 
from  the  dead  mass." 

But  we  learn  little  about  them  by  simply  giving  the 
various  names  and  telling  what  sort  of  people  belonged  to  this 
class.  Let  us  step  behind  the  scenes  to  see  how  these  actors 
play  their  roles  in  the  theatre  of  public  life.  Here  we  shall 
obtain  an  insight  into  the  struggle  for  existence  of  this  class, 
and  become  aware  of  another  deteriorating  force  working  in 
the  social  life  of  our  elites  of  that  time. 

"'^Good  Heavens !  how  busily  they  work  the  web !  One 
might  laugh  at  their  childish  weaving  if  it  were  not  so  serious. 
Yes,  they  spin  threads  which  will  reach  from  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  to  Lake  Erie  and  Champlain,  and  soon  across  to 
Huron,  in  fact,  wherever  our  good  families  reside.  An  im- 
mense net  they  are  spinning,  which  will  be  ten  times  torn  by 
(he  giant,  called  spirit  of  the  people  (Volksgeist),  and  as  often 
woven  again  by  thousands  and  thousands  of  lazy,  yet  busy 
hands.  Like  spiders,  too,  they  withdraw  further  into  darkness 
after  every  rent,  but  as  soon  as  they  recover  from  the  shock, 
they  appear  again.  Yes,  yes,  our  aristocracy,  or  rather  quasi- 
aristocracy!  It  is  really  amusing  sometimes  to  look  at  the 
cards  it  plays;  it  is  like  a  band  of  roving  musicians,  who  can 
only  play  one  air,  but  can  play  that  perfectly ;  start  whatever 
tune  you  like,  sober  or  drunk,  and  they  will  chime  in  and  play 
their  tune.  Our  aristocrats  are  real  cats ;  throw  them  as  you 
will  and  they  alight  on  their  feet.  No  means  are  beneath  them ; 
no  lever  is  too  weak — they  can  use  them  all,  suit  themselves 
to  all :  give  them  a  cuff  on  the  left  cheek,  and  they  will  smile, 
satisfied,  and  hold  out  the  right ;  but  then  look  out  for  them ! 

72  Ralph  Doughhy,  pp.  189-191. 

114  


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

they  pay  you  back  a  thousand  times !  They  have  already  spun 
their  threads  from  the  Town  of  Brotherly  Love,  and  the 
Yankee  City  across  the  whole  Union.  Priests  are  their 
quartermasters,  old  women  are  their  heavy  ordnance,  and  our 
boys  and  girls  their  light  cavalry,  with  which  they  surround 
Uncle  Sam,  and  try  to  catch  him  after  the  manner  of  catching 
a  wild  horse. 

"Yes,  my  dear  Uncle  Sam,  you  drive  happily  and  merrily 
about  on  the  great  prairie  of  your  glorious  liberty,  but  beware ! 
for  dogs  and  hunters  are  multiplying  to  chase  you  !  Take  care, 
or  they  will  draw  a  noose  over  your  head,  for  they  have  many 
and  various  ones;  and  I  should  believe,  that  if  good  George  IV 
had  money  enough  to  send  one  of  his  brethren  over  with  a  few 
hundred  pounds,  payable  at  John  Bull's  bank,  our  precious 
Boston  blue-stockings,  New  York  men-on-'change,  and  Phila- 
delphia tariff-men  would  be  persuaded  to  give  in  their  al- 
legiance, and  w^ould  run  head  over  heals  not  to  miss  the  first 
levee  of  the  new  American  Majesty.  Such  a  levee  would  be 
an  excellent  thing  for  our  aristocrats,  where  the  plebeian 
democrats  could  only  look  on ! 

"Yes,  the  race  I  speak  of  is  a  dear  race,  a  sweet  race,  a 
little  spoiled  by  vulgarity,  and  pale  and  bilious,  and  in  its  veins 
is  less  pure  blood  than  spoiled  spirits;  but  otherwise  it  is 
full  of  the  warmest  feelings  for  thee,  dear  Uncle  Sam !  But 
you  know^  them,  and  consequently  you  have  given  them  their 
passport,  just  renew  that  passport  for  the  next  three  hundred 
years,  and  you  will  find  it  to  your  advantage." 

It  is  true  we  always  have  looked  up  to  European  aristo- 
cracy and  their  titles.  And  now  that  we  have  waged  war  on 
aristocracy,  allied  with  aristocracy,  it  seems  that  we  more  than 
ever  pay  homage  to  it.  But  back  to  Sealsfield  and  Baron  von 
Schochstein  who  was  not  little  surprised  at  "'^^the  almost 
idolatrous  homage  offered  to  his  title  of  baron  and  chamberlain 
(Junker)  that  he  seemed  to  ask  himself:  'Is  this,  then,  your 
boasted  republic  ?'  " 

■73  Wahlvcrwandtschaftcn,  pt.  II,  p.  249. 
115  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

In  the  same  work,  from  which  this  last  quotation  is  taken, 
our  romancer,  speaking  of  the  works  of  James  Fenimore 
Cooper,  defends  those  writings  in  which  he  attacked  and 
ridiculed  the  Americans ;  although  no  title  is  mentioned,  we 
can  easily  see  that  Sealsfield  is  thinking  of  The  American 
Democrat,  and  especially  of  Home  as  Found  (both  appeared  in 
1856).  "Mr.  Cooper",  the  author  says,  "may  have  written 
passionately,  imprudently;  his  injured  pride,  strongly  ap- 
preciating the  distinctions  shown  him  in  Europe,  had  induced 
giddiness  in  him  and  roused  him  on  his  return  against  our  far 
from  tenderhearted  democracy;  but  his  assertions,  neverthe- 
less, are  true.  As  an  American,  a  patriot,  he  deeply  and  pain- 
fully feels  the  bad  influence  beginning  to  react  from  Europe, 
and  chiefly  from  England,  on  our  own  country,  poisoning  in 
its  very  marrow  and  inmost  fibres,  our  republican  body.  We 
have  doubtless,  during  the  last  seven  years,  retrograded  rather 
than  advanced  in  civilization  and  social  order."  The  upper 
class  has  become  more  English-loving — they  have  attained 
wealth ;  now,  not  unlike  John  Jacob  Astor,  they  implore  social 
standing,  the  breeding  of  born  aristocrats,  and  the  customs 
and  manners^*  of  a  land,  the  civilization  of  which  is  a  thousand 
years  older."^^ 

How  much  we  relied  upon  England  for  everything 
fashionable  and  proper  and  how  much  we  aped  Englishmen  we 
see  in  Cooper's  Home  as  Found.     But  in  W ahlverwandtschaf- 

'^4  Cf.  Wahlverwandtschaften,  pt.  Ill,  pp.  426-427.— Of.  Grund, 
F.,  Die  Americaner,  p.  16.  "Tlie  Americans  have  been  reproached  as 
slavishl}^  imitating  European  customs,  which  at  least  amongst  the  richer 
classes  is  done  to  a  degree  which  borders  on  the  ridiculous." 

'^^  One  of  the  most  pernicious  customs  was  that  of  duelling :  Seals- 
field  (Kajiitenbuch,  pt.  II,  p.  176  f.)  states  that  in  1826  and  1827  more 
than  a  hundred  duels  were  fought  each  year.  He,  furthermore,  tells  us 
that  bank  presidents  came  to  an  understanding  not  to  give  credit  to 
anyone  who  would  not  give  his  word  of  honor  to  cease  that  feudal 
practice,  at  least  during  the  time  he  was  their  debtor.  In  Die  Ver- 
cinigten  Staaten,  duelling  is  called  a  result  of  the  European  diplomacy 
of  Adams.  Anti-duelling  bills  were  passed  in  various  states.  (For 
Virginia,  cf.  Warden,  D.  B.,  A  Statistical,  Political,  and  Historical  Ac- 
count of  the  United  States,  v.  II,  p.  207;  for  Mississippi,  cf.  Marryat, 
Frederick,  Diary,  ser.  II,  v.  II,  p.  21.)  To  illustrate  how  the  practice  of 
duelling  had  developed  its  rules  and  regulations,  we  shall  quote  again 

116  


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

ten,  we  have  just  as  good  an  example,  perhaps  portrayed 
with  less  ridicule.  There  was  a  certain  Thornton  in  New 
York,  who  had  come  from  England  to  give  lessons  in  etiquette 
and  manners,  concerning  whom  one  of  the  dandies  in  the 
novel  says  the  following:  "We  are  heartily  tired  of  our 
democracy — mobocracy,  rather.  He  comes  quite  apropos,  nay, 
entre  nous,  our  'existences'  gave  him  a  call  through  their 
friends  in  old  England ;  mats  entre  nous,  we  need  his  assistance 
m  giving  the  death  blow  to  our  mobocracy.  All  the  good  agree 
with  him.  He'll  receive,  however,  a  few  cuts  in  our  dailies 
for  the  sake  of  blinding  the  eyes  of  the  millions." 

Just  as  this  class  is  the  upper  extreme  so  do  we  have  a 
lower  extreme  in  the  class  called  'Svorkies,"  which  we  do  not 
believe  to  be  so  well  portrayed  and  in  such  lively  colors,  in  any 
contemporaneous  work. 

"^^'The  young  man,  twenty-three  years  of  age,  landed  here 
(on  a  Mississippi  plantation)  a  few  days  since,  offering  his 
services  as  a  carpenter  or  cabinet-maker.  Being  informed  of 
che  want  of  such  a  person  on  the  plantation,  he  remained  and 
introduced  himself  to  me  on  my  return  from  the  fields;  during 
this  complimentary  process,  his  left  hand  rested  in  his  breeches 
pocket,  the  right  supported  a  roll  of  twist,  from  which  he 
supplied  himself,  while  he  eyed  me,  at  his  ease,  from  head  to 
foot — retaining  his  variegated  high-crowned  beaver  on  his 
head.  His  clothing  consisted  of  a  black  dress-coat,  probably 
on  his  back  night  and  day  for  the  last  four  weeks ;  pantaloons 
of  the  same  color,  dirty  stockings,  and  shoes  dowm  at  the  heels. 
Under  his  arm  he  held  a  package  with  cigars  and  newspapers, 
both  forming  doubtless  his  chief  bodily  and  mental  sustenance 
- — in  a  word,  an  image  of  horrible  apathy.  I  considered  him 
one  of  those  appendages  of  our  courts  of  justice,  in  the  South- 

from  Marryat,  ser.  II,  v.  II,  p.  295.  "Princeton,  Miss.,  May  9,  1838. 
Terms  of  combat  proposed  between  John  T.  Bowie  and  W.  Nichols: — ■ 
First,  the  weapons  to  be  used  shall  be  bowie  knives,  length  of  blade  ten 
and  three-fourths  inches,  etc.,  etc.- — ^N.  B.  Further  preliminaries  will 
be  settled  between  the  seconds  when  those  terms  shall  have  been  ac- 
cepted." 

'^6  Pflan.cerleben,  pt.  I,  pp.  27-32. 

117  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

east  styled  bloodsuckers;  but  I  found  my  error  on  being  in- 
formed by  him  that  he  was  a  gentleman  desirous  of  making  a 
temporar}^  arrangement  with  me  as  carpenter  and  cabinet- 
maker, in  consideration  of  the  lawful  equivalent.  I  was  now 
aware  that  in  him  I  beheld  one  of  those  worthies,  a  pupil  of 
that  new  democratic  school,  which  might  certainly  reconcile  us 
to  the  curse  of  slavery,  if  anything  could.  I  had  heard  and 
seen  in  the  North  many  of  the  movements  of  these  men,  and 
thus  considered  it  worth  my  w^hile  to  make  the  acquaintance  of 
a  branch  of  this  far-spreading  tree  of  poison.  To  my  question 
regarding  that  lawful  equivalent,  he  replied,  after  having  duly 
emitted  a  ray  of  coffee-colored  juice  from  his  toothless  mouth, 
that  he  considered  as  such  $1.50  per  day,  with  genteel  board 
and  lodging,  'such  as  a  citizen  and  gentleman  required'  .  .  .  But 
we  have  thousands  of  his  kind  in  the  North.  New  York, 
Baltimore,  Philadelphia  are  crowded — we  may  almost  say, 
governed  by  them.^^  They  decide  the  elections;  their  tools 
occupy  the  seats  in  the  Assemblies  and  in  Congress.  They  have 
their  officers,  presidents,  secretaries  and  agents — a  perfect 
organization,  and  new^spapers  for  the  purpose  of  agitating  the 
mob  and  of  bringing  their  plans  to  maturity. '^^  These  plans, 
although  monstrous,  are  not  new.  They  desire  the  Agrarian 
law  of  the  plebeians  of  ancient  Rome,  but  remodeled  in  true 
democratic  style.  They  desire  not  only  to  take  the  surplus 
and  apply  it  where  they  think  fit,  but  also  to  make  this  en- 
viable state  of  the  jtiste-milieii  lasting.  To  destroy  and  forfit 
the  monopoly  of  talent  and  knowledge,  they  condemn  univer- 
sities and  academies,  as  being  alone  accessible  to  the  rich,  hot- 
beds of  vain  speculations,  mines  of  aristocratic  opinions  and 
preponderating  ideas,  at  variance  with  the  democratic  prin- 
ciple. Mediocrity  is  their  motto ;  by  it  alone  this  precious 
principle  can  be  retained  in  its  purity." 

So   far  we  have  only  used  the  works  of   Sealsfield  ex- 
clusive of  his  letters.    For  the  years  following  his  last  publica- 

""^  Cf.  Chapter  entitled  "Our  new  pillars  of  slate."  U'ahhcvivandt- 
schaftcn,  pt.  IV,  pp.  191-194. 
78  Cf.    Ibid.,  p.  191. 

118  


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

tion  (1842-43)  we  must  turn  to  his  correspondence."'*^  In  a 
letter  to  Heinrich  Erhard,^"  dated  New  York,  April  25,  1854,^^ 
he  makes  the  following  statement:  "I  found  the  material 
advances  during  the  seventeen  years  of  my  absence  enormous, 
the  political  less  so,  and  the  intellectual  still  less.  The  huge 
immigration  of  Irish^^ — in  the  tw^elve  to  eighteen  years  three 
millicms  of  Irishmen  must  have  immigrated,  all  proletarians-  - 
is  a  frightful  fertilizer  for  this  land ;  the  consequences  are 
evil,  they  manifest  themselves  in  murder,  drunkenness,  and 
all  other  despicable  vices.  But  these  are  matters  which  ought. 
not  to  be  discussed  in  a  letter,  since  they  would  lead  too  far.' 
On  the  17th  of  July*^  he  enters  more  deeply  into  the  subject: 
"I  tell  you,  the  entire  credit  and  mercantile  system  of  the 
United  States  is  rotten  through  and  through.  Not  a  day 
passes  that  a  partner  or  a  cashier  is  not  caught  in  some  fraud. 
If  they  are  poor  devils  they  are  locked  up,  are  they  rich,  then 
they  drive  about  in  their  carriages  just  as  they  did  before; 
not  a  hand  will  touch  them.  The  present  condition  of  morals 
in  the  United  States  is  shocking.  I  have  before  me  the  IvOuis- 
ville  Courier,  which  enumerates  thirteen  homicides  in  that 
town  and  county  during  the  last  two  years,  and  not  a  one  of 
these  murderers  was  punished  in  the  least. ^*  It  has  practically 
become  a  custom,  and  a  man  w4to  sits  at  the  table  next  to  you 
will  shoot  you  down  after  dinner  with  cold  blood  in  his  veins, 
because  you  have  stared  at  him  during  the  meal  in  a  some- 
what displeasing  way.  In  New  York,  three  months  ago  we 
had  a  day  when  twelve — I  tell  you,  twelve — murderers  were 
tried  at  the  same  time.     That  would  seem  incredible,  but  the 

"^^  The  writer  had  access  only  to  those  letters  piil^lishcd  in  Faust, 
A.  B.,  Der  Dichter  beider  Hemispharen. 

80  Heinrich  Erhard  was  then  manager  of  Metzler's  Verlagsbuch- 
handlung,  Stuttgart. 

«i  Letter  No.  ZZ. 

^-  Murray,  C.  A.,  Trcn'cls  in  North  America,  v.  II,  p.  169,  calls  the 
Irishmen  "The  most  improvident,  quarrelsome,  turbulent  population  in 
the  continent."— Cooper,  James  Fennimore,  Die  Amerikancr,  v.  II,  p. 
1-16,  laments  the  strong  Irish  immigration. 

«»  Letter  35  B. 

'■^•i  Cf.    Wahlverzeandtschaften,  pt.   IV,  pp.   189-190. 

119  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

newspapers  give  names,  etc.,  there  is  no  room  for  doubt,  I  am 
sorry  to  say.  I  possess  quite  a  large  collection  of  papers 
which  I  intend  to  use,  for  there  is  need,  and  the  time  has 
come  that  an  honest  pen  should  pronounce  judgment  over 
these  horrible  sprouts  of  our  democracy  and  demogogy,  and 
as  far  as  I  can  see,  some  good  can  be  accomplished,  provided 
it  be  done  in  the  right  way."  Then  follows  a  little  postscript 
which  speaks  for  a  good  deal  of  delicacy  on  the  part  of  the 
author:  "Do  not  make  use  of  these  notes  on  the  moral  con- 
dition, etc.,  especially  toward  Cotta,  if  I  may  ask  ....  It  is 
little  befitting  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  to  talk  against  his 
country,  others  may  do  it,  I  don't  care,  but  I  shall  not." 

So  far  we  had  no  reason  to  believe  that  Sealsfield  suffered 
any  material  loss  in  this  country,^^  but  in  some  of  his  letters 
of  1861  and  1862  written  to  Miss  Elise  Meyer,  we  find  proof 
thereof,  and  we  can  well  imagine  how  considerable  losses  in 
personal  property  might  have  influenced  him  to  look  at  the 
y\merican  nation  with  a  more  pessimistic  predisposition. 
January  6,  186P^  he  writes  from  his  new  home  near  Solo- 
thurn,  Switzerland :  "The  new  year  begins  with  ominous 
manifestations,  which  are  taking  a  very  disquieting  turn." 
Speaking  of  the  probability  of  a  civil  war  he  says  that  in 
case  the  southern  states  should  secede  he  would  lose  his 
property.  In  a  letter  of  January  28th^^  we  read:  "My  coun- 
try must  pass  through  all  those  crises  which  are  prescribed 
to  all  large  republics  during  their  sickness.  Meanwhile  the 
earthly  possessions  of  entire  generations  are  ruined.  If  I  had 
sold  four  years  ago,  I  would  have  realized  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands." 

August  31,  186P^  he  speaks  of  a  practice  of  cheating 
which  is  beyond  belief,  and  remarks  that  this  crisis  was  to 

^•''  Faust,  A.  B.,  Der  Dichtcr  heider  Hcmisphdren,  p.  76,  claims  that 
the  author  lost  considerable  sums  in  a  bank  failure  at  New  Orleans  in 
the  year  1830,  but  neither  he  nor  any  other  biographer  has  proven  this 
assertion. 

86  Letter  No.  48. 
«7  Letter  No.  49. 
88  Letter  No.  51. 

120  


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

be  expected;  for  eighty  years  of  happiness  and  fifty  years  of 
peace  have  effeminated  and  spoiled  the  people.  Thus  he  lives 
between  hope^^  and  doubt^^  until  he  sees  after  the  first  year 
of  war  that  the  nation  has  proven  herself  great. ^^  Kertbeny^- 
tells  us  that  Sealsfield  refused  to  publish  a  noveP^''  v/ritten 
between  1844-1848  because  his  trip  to  the  United  States  in 
1850  (1854!)  convinced  him  that  the  descriptions  of  the  people 
in  his  works  were  no  longer  true.  Nevertheless  Sealsfield 
lived  for  our  country  till  the  hour  of  his  death.  His  last 
words  before  his  spirits  departed  were:  ''Nichts  neues  von 
driiben?"  In  his  testament  he  bequeathed  to  two  boys  of  his 
brother's  family  special  sums  that  they  might  go  to  America 
to  find  new  and  better  homes. 

89  Letter  of  September  21,  1861,  No.  52. 

90  Letter  of  October  15,  1861,  No.  53. 

91  Letter  of  May  8,  1862,  No.  57. 

92  Kertbeny,  a  Hungarian  writer  who  was  Sealsfield's  friend  during 
his  last  years,  and  who  had  intentions  of  becoming  his  Eckermann. 

93  Probably    "Ost  und   West",    3  vols.,    which  the  author    burned 
shortly  before  his  death  with  one  or  two  other  works. 


121 


PART  11. 

NATIONAL  TYPES. 

Chapter  I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

In  1893  Professor  Frederick  J.  Turner  published  an 
article  in  the  Annual  Report  of  the  American  Historical 
Association,  entitled  The  Significance  of  the  Frontier  in  Amer- 
ican History,  in  which  he  directs  attention  to  the  fact  that 
American  history  had  thus  far  been  studied  from  the  limited 
point  of  view  of  the  Atlantic  Coast,  chiefly  that  of  the  New 
Englander.  The  true  point  of  view  in  the  history  of  our 
nation  is,  however,  not  the  Atlantic  Coast — it  is  the  Great 
West.  Our  historians,  he  claims,  have  ever  been  students  of 
constitutional  and  political  histor}^  but  they  have  failed  to 
inquire  into  the  social  development  of  the  nation,  a  process, 
which,  he  asserts,  must  be  studied  on  the  various  frontiers, 
where  different  ethnic  and  social  elements  met  with  savage 
inhabitants  and  primitive  nature.  Here  these  ethnic  elements 
were  confronted  by  an  envirorunent  which  at  first  seemed  to 
overwhelm  them.  Gradually,  however,  they  transformed  the 
wilderness  and  imprinted  their  peculiar  stamp  upon  it.  Thus 
the  various  elements,  he  believes  were  consolidated  into  an 
American  nation,  and  at  the  frontier  were,  in  his  opinion, 
developed  the  striking  characteristics  of  the  American  intel- 
lect :  That  coarseness  and  strength  combined  with  acuteness, 
inquisitiveness,  et  cetera. 

While  it  is  true  that  economists  and  historians  had  until 
then  overlooked  this  important  field  of  study, ^  the  task  which 

1  What  has  since  been  done  in  this  field  is  shown  by  the  work  of 
Solon  J.  Buck,  Reuben  G.  Thwaites,  and  C.  W.  Alvord,  and  others. 

122  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

Prof€Ssor  Turner  set  to  American  historiography  had  been 
formulated,  and  in  a  way  accomplished  by  Sealsfield  many 
years  before. 

A  student  of  history  and  of  human  civilization,  an 
original  thinker  of  unusual  depth,  who  had  assimilated  the 
fundamental  principles  of  Herder's  philosophy  of  history,  and 
a  settler  at  the  wild  frontier  of  the  Southwest  for  several 
years,  he  observed  the  historical  process,  which  he  had  wit- 
nessed as  a  participant,  with  the  keen  insight  of  the  historian 
as  well  as  with  the  clear  eye  of  the  artist.  None  of  the 
features  which  in  Professor  Turner's  view  constitute  the 
significance  of  the  frontier  in  the  development  of  American 
life  and  nationality  escaped  Sealsfield,  but  he  beholds  them  as 
partial  phases  of  a  rich,  pulsating  life  rather  than  in  the  light 
of  a  fixed  formula  or  an  abstract  academic  theory.  Nor  is 
he  opinionated  enough  to  consider  frontier  life  as  the  only, 
or  even  the  chief  source  from  which  the  striking  character- 
istics of  the  American  intellect  took  their  origin.  Again  it 
is  the  innate  love  of  the  artist  for  the  variety  and  multiformity 
of  life  which  enables  him  to  perceive  the  whole  of  American 
life  and  to  recognize  the  many  forces  at  work  in  the  making 
of  our  composite  nationality.  He  is  fully  aware  of  the  sterling 
(jualities  of  manhood  developed  at  the  frontier,  but  he  is  far 
from  weaving  a  romantic  halo  about  the  backwoodsman,  for 
he  knows  that  at  the  boundaries  of  civilization  ''the  dregs 
repelled  by  civilized  society  collect,"  and  he  is  not  unmind- 
ful of  the  fact  that  respectable  and  cultured  men  whom  ill 
fortune  or  love  of  adventure  has  cast  into  the  wilderness  of 
frontier  life,  will  inevitably  experience  a  decay  of  their  higher 
aspirations,  and  in  the  course  of  time  sink  to  the  low  intel- 
lectual level  of  primitive  civilization,  the  typical  lot  of  co- 
lonists of  all  times. 

There  is,  however,  one  tie  which,  in  Sealsfield's  opinion, 
binds  the  various  racial  and  social  elements  together,  and  unite^^ 
rhem  into  one  cosmopolitan  commonwealth :  their  love  of 
liberty  and  of  the  free  institutions  of  our  republic.  It  is  his  in- 
sight into  this  powerful,  all  embracing,  patriotic  spirit  pervad- 

123  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

ing  the  population  of  our  country,  which  inspires  our  author 
to  the  prophetic  words :  ^"Only  eighty  years  ago  our  country 
was  a  forgotten  corner  of  the  earth,  inhabited  by  a  few^  hun- 
dred thousand  famihes  of  poor  colonists,  tipon  whom  even 
their  own  countrymen  looked  down  with  haughty  contempt 
as  a  degenerate  race,  as  less  than  the  dregs  of  the  great 
European  system — regarded,  even  by  the  Britons,  as  the  scum 
of  the  earth,  and  treated  accordingly,  while  they  were  scarcely 
known  by  the  rest  of  the  world.  Who  would  then,  when 
these  poor  French  Acadians  were  driven  from  their  huts  by 
Britons  and  Anglo-American  colonists,  clad  in  skins,  fighting 
under  Webb  against  the  French  Montcalm  because  their 
masters  in  Germany  did  the  same — who  would  then  have 
predicted  that  these  same  despised  colonists  twenty  years  after 
would  found  an  empire  which,  in  less  than  sixty  years,  would 
become  the  pride  of  mankind?  which  would  defy  the  mighty 
mother  country,  defeat  it  twice  successfully  in  war,  and  take 
its  stand  among  the  mightiest  nations  upon  earth?  Sixty 
years  more  and  this  empire  may  stand,  perhaps,  master  of 
the  world ;  and,  in  that  beneficial  reaction,  which  Providence 
has  assumed  as  a  principle  in  physical  and  moral  government, 
oppose  the  mighty  northern  Colossus,  which,  equally  obscure, 
though  rougher  and  wilder  in  its  origin,  rose  from  the  ic}^ 
fields  of  the  north  and  stepped  forward  amid  siege  and 
carnage,  ruin  and  death,  stretching  its  gigantic  arms,  some- 
times threatening,  sometimes  caressing  across  Europe,  while 
she  panted  under  the  convulsions  of  liberty.  Yes  she  pants, 
poor  virgin  Europe!  she  pants  with  all  her  might  for  this 
new  birth ;  she  hopes  to  bring  forth  a  brighter  and  more 
glorious  offspring  than  the  world  has  yet  seen.  But  ah !  she 
forgets  the  mighty  giant  that  must  devour  her  child,  and  her 
sun  sinks  in  the  west,  and  dim  twilight  overspreads  her,  and 
her  night  comes  on,  while  for  us  the  glorious  morning 
arises !" 

A    remarkable   survey   of    the   historical    process    at   the 
American   frontier  taken   from   the   high   vantage   ground   of 

^  Ralph  Doughby,  pp.  53-54. 

124  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

the  philosopher  of  history  and  the  past  is  contained  in  the 
following  passage  from  Ralph  Doughty :  ^"And  well  may 
strangers,  who  first  visit  our  country,  stare  at  such  sights. 
With  us,  they  do  not  even  create  a  smile ;  the  collision  into 
which  we  are  thrown  by  our  ever-movable,  unsteady  repub- 
lican intercourse,  is  certainly  not  particularly  agreeable  .  .  . 
The  fellow  who  has  just  turned  his  back  to  us  has  in  his 
cold  smile,  something  that  might  be  compared  to  a  lurking 
congo-snake— a  most  devilish  grin ;  thus  a  murderer  must 
look  who  coolly  puts  the  steel  into  his  victim's  breast.  But 
can  we  have  all  Washingtons,  Jays,  and  Franklins?  Is  it 
not  rather  a  necessary,  absolute  condition  of  our  liberty,  that 
citizens'  virtues,  as  well  as  vices,  should  grow  more  luxuri- 
antly, because  they  are  freely  permitted  to  grow  and  increase? 
And  if  the  one  outweighs  the  other,  is  not  the  cause  to  be 
sought  in  the  fact  that  crimes  with  us  is  the  natural  drain  of 
those  fluids  which  emit  their  impurities  by  the  bung-hole? 
The  dregs,  repelled  by  civilized  society,  collect  naturally  near 
the  boundaries  of  civilization,  in  the  West,  where  laws  are 
still  weak.  Indeed,  things  frequently  look  terrible  along  these 
boundaries — real  scum  is  to  be  found  there — gamblers, 
murderers,  and  thieves,  among  whom  a  respectable  man's  life 
is  not  safe.  But  these  only  last  a  short  time ;  better  ones  fol- 
low, and  the  rabble  retreat  farther,  before  approaching  culture 
and  civilization,  and  before  the  laws,  which  grow  too  strong. 
But  their  doings  have  not  been  worthless.  Against  their  will, 
they  have  been  forced  by  want  and  need  to  clear  forests,  make 
paths  through  the  pathless  wilderness,  and  till  the  earth  for 
better  successors.  With  such  wild,  desperate  characters, 
originated  the  paradisian  hills  and  valleys  of  Kentucky,  the 
excellent  farms  of  Ohio,  and  the  magnificent  meadows  of 
Tennessee.  They  have  gone  many  thousands  of  miles — their 
works  have  remained.  They  have  become  the  foundation 
of  the  happiness  of  millions  of  free,  civilized,  and  religious 
citizens,  who  pray  to  the  God  of  their  fathers  in  thousands 
and  thousands  of  temples,  in  places  where  formerly  only  the 

3  Ibid.,  pp.  233-236. 

125  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

wild  Indian  hunted.  We  love  to  see  the  culture  of  our  land 
break  through  unto  the  borders  of  the  second  ocean ;  we  love 
well  to  glide  for  thousands  of  miles  down  the  gigantic  stream, 
in  our  magnificent  floating  palaces,  and  en  passant,  it  may 
be  said,  collect  a  rich  harvest  of  dollars  from  the  extremity 
of  our  Union.  We  must  not  consider  those  men  who  help 
us  in  achieving  these  wonders,  altogether  worthless,  and  avoid 
any  collision  with  them — the  less,  as  there  is  many  a  respect- 
able character  among  them.  The  mouth  which  breathes  the 
mephitic  vapors  of  the  Mississippi  and  Red  River  swamps,  is 
not  fit  to  chew  raisins;  that  hand  which  fells  our  gigantic 
trees  and  drains  our  bogs,  cannot  be  covered  with  kid  gloves. 
Our  land  is  the  land  of  contrast — the  land  in  which  the  life 
of  man  shows  itself  before  our  eyes  as  it  was  three  thousand 
years  ago,  and  as  it  is  now.  In  our  Eastern  States,  the  high- 
est culture  exists — in  some  parts,  even  higher  than  the 
European,  with  many  of  the  vices  of  their  debauched  civiliza- 
tion. In  the  farthest  West  may  be  seen  that  commencement  of 
civilization  as  it  was  brought  over  the  Black  Sea  by  Saturn 
and  Jupiter,  who  were  in  recompense  adored  as  gods ;  and 
later,  by  Cecrops  from  Egypt  into  Greece.  These  are  con- 
trasts which  only  a  narrow  mind  finds  unnatural.  The 
humane  and  well-informed  understand  them  at  a  first  glance ; 
they  see  the  necessity,  and  submit  to  the  disagreeable  feelings 
which  this  collision  creates,  as  it  affords  them  a  deep  glance 
into  life  and  social  position." 

In  order  to  comprehend  and  adequately  to  depict  the 
great  contrast  which  the  rising  civilization  of  our  country 
presents,  Sealsfield  does  not  confine  his  attention  to  the  cha- 
racters and  events  of  frontier  life.  His  vision  embraces  the 
various  races  and  types  of  humanity,  the  products  of  diverse 
civilizations,  which  have  assembled  in  the  different  sections  of 
our  country,  where  all  of  them  are  destined  to  play  a  role  in 
the  creation  of  a  new  society,  a  new  humanity,  and  a  new 
civilization.  In  splendid  procession  there  move  before  us  the 
Puritan  New  Englanders,  the  Hollanders,  the  Germans  in 
Penn's  settlement,    the    Irish    in  the  Carolinas,    and  later  in 

126  -— 


NATIONAL  TYPES 

Kentucky,  the  French  aristocrats,  and  the  Creoles  in  Louisi- 
ana, the  Negroes  and  the  Mexicans — all  of  whom  are  different 
in  speech,  in  inherited  manners  and  customs,  in  short,  in 
mental  and  physical  qualities.  Since,  however,  not  only 
physiological  characteristics,  but  also  mental  traits  are  sub- 
ject to  hereditary  transmission,  the  descendants  of  the  various 
types  and  races  will  of  necessity  show  the  distinctive  mental 
and  physical  features  of  their  ancestors,  though,  perhaps, 
somewhat  changed  by  environment  and  intermarriage.  While 
Sealsfield  takes  pains  to  trace  the  racial  and  cultural  differ- 
ences of  the  various  settlers  in  his  tales  to  their  European 
origin,  he  is  equally  careful  to  describe  the  psychological 
change  going  on  in  the  new  surroundings.  *''In  the  midst  of 
this  activity  we  were  not  little  astonished  that  we  had  begun 
to  reason  quite  dift"erently  concerning  things  of  the  past  and 
future,  in  a  manner  which  had  not  the  least  connection  with 
our  earlier  modes  of  thought.  We  began  to  judge  the  con- 
ditions of  life,  our  position,  and  that  of  others,  in  a  more 
materialistic  way,  independently,  in  the  same  degree  as  we 
began  to  become  more  independent.  A  revolution  occurred  in 
our  system  of  ideas ;  even  the  condition  of  public  life,  the 
politics  of  Europe,  of  our  royal  house,  appeared  in  an  entirely 
new  light,  our  cavalier  views  were  lost  in  a  perspective. — W^e 
were  not  a  little  astonished,  for  it  was  a  psychological  phe- 
nomenon, and  was  so  much  harder  to  explain,  since  we  had 
never  spoken  to  our  squatter  neighbors  about  it.  Our  ideas 
were  spontaneous.  It  seemed  as  though  we  had  awakened 
out  of  a  long  dream,  and  had  outgrown  childhood  and  its 
leading  strings,  which  had  been  guiding  us  hither  and  thither." 
— And  els-ewhere  he  speaks  of  a  spontaneous  change  in  the 
emigrant  with  the  following  words :  ^"This  egoism  creeps 
over  the  emigrant  in  America,  whether  he  will  or  not — an- 
other strange  peculiarity,  a  contrast  which  is  always  seen 
between  the  inhabitant  of  this  country  and  the  Europeans. 
Nature  herself  is  the  cause." 

4  Nathan,  pp.  Z7(i-Z17. 

5  Pflanzerleben,  pt.  II,  pp.  244-245. 

127  


CHARLES  SEAI^SFIEIvD 

While  in  the  first  part  of  the  present  study  we  have  dis- 
cussed the  political  and  economic  development  of  this  country 
as  it  appeared  to  Sealsfield,  we  shall  follow  in  the  succeeding 
chapters  how  he  pictures  the  various  ethnic  elements  which 
represent  the  actors  in  the  gigantic  epic  of  civilization,  which 
he  unrolls  before  our  eyes.  Impelled  by  the  same  motives  and 
hopes,  each  of  these  elements  shares  in  the  mighty  struggle 
with  primitive  nature  as  well  as  in  its  final  conquest  by  the 
energy  and  intelligence  of  man,  and  each  ethnic  group  con- 
tributes the  best  of  its  national  European  heritance  to  the 
character  of  the  rising  nationality,  and  to  the  new,  gradually 
developing  civilization  in  its  irresistible  westward  course.  It 
is  the  heroism,  not  of  single  great  individuals,  but  of  the 
groups  and  masses,  of  a  democracy,  winning  by  restless  toil 
and  untold  privations,  sufferings,  and  sacrifices,  a  new  con- 
tinent, which  our  rhapsodist  celebrates  in  his  remarkable  epic. 
Nor  is  the  tragic  and  deeply  pathetic  strain  wanting  in  his 
heroic  song:  the  description,  already  discussed  in  the  first  part 
of  this  study,  of  the  death  struggle  of  the  aborigines  who  can- 
not be  merged  into  the  new  nationality,  and  are  therefore 
destined  to  gradual  extinction. 


128 


Chapter  IL 

KENTUCKIANS. 

The  student  of  western  history  \vill  notice  that  civiliza- 
tion did  not  advance  slowly  and  steadily,  conquering  the 
wilderness  in  its  path,  but  that  it  advanced  with  the  pioneers 
by  leaps  and  bounds,  leaving  more  civilized  life  hundreds  of 
miles  behind.^  Thus  Kentucky  was  settled — its  beautiful  val- 
leys first — thus  the  Kentuckians  left  the  "dark  and  bloody 
ground"^ — an  appellation  not  originating  with  the  contentions 
of  whites  with  Indians,  but  of  Indians  with  Indians'^ — and 
settled  Tennessee,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Missouri, 
and  Arkansas,  after  advancing  not  only  a  few  hundred  but 
fifteen  to  twenty  hundred  miles.  Kentuckians,  whatever  be 
their  character,  since  they  gave  the  ground  color^  to  the  con- 
querors of  the  next  west,  must  be  studied  before  we  attempt 
an  analysis  of  the  life  and  character  of  the  American  inhabit- 
ants of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

Sealsfield,  not  unlike  D.  B.  Warden^  and  TimiOthy  Flint,^ 
considered  them  a  people  of  peculiar  ethnic  characteristics, 
which  he   traced   back  to   two   main  sources.      They   are   on 

'^  Cf.   Skinner,   Constance,  Pioneers  of  the  Old  Southwest,  p.  31. 

2  Sealsfield  refers  to  it  as  "bloody  ground"  when  the  first  pioneers 
settled  there,  as  though  it  had  had  the  name  already.  Pflanzerlehcn, 
pt.  I,  p.  286. 

s  The  Iroquois,  Cherokee,  and  Shawanee  claimed  it  as  their 
hunting  grounds,  and  after  the  Iroquois  had  ceded  it  to  the  British 
Crown  in  1768  by  the  treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix  the  Cherokee  again 
protested  so  that  another  treaty  was  signed — Cf.  Skinner,  C,  Pioneers, 
pp.  129-130— Hall,  Sketches  of  the  West,  p.  234. 

4  VYmi,  Indian  Wars,  p.  49.  "The  people  of  this  state  have  im- 
pressed their  name,  character,  and  spirit  in  a  great  degree  upon  the 
whole  West."    Cf.  Flint,  History  and  Geography,  p.  180. 

5  Account  of  the  United  States,  v.  II,  p.  327. 

6  Recollections,  pp.  70-71. 

129  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

one  hand  the  offsprings  of  affluent  and  noble  planters  of 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina/  and  on  the  other  hand,  ad- 
venturers, rowdies  and  men  fleeing  from  justice,  who  took 
here  free  land  by  ''tomahawk  claim" — that  is  by  cutting  their 
names  into  the  bark  of  deadened  trees.^  These  first  settlers 
of  the  "bloody  ground,"  their  character,  their  struggles  and 
final  success  due  to  tireless  effort,  are  described  by  the  author 
in  the  following  words: 

^  "Glancing  from  the  right  shore  of  the  belle  riviere^^  to 
the  left,  you  find  an  entirely  different  branch  of  Uncle  Sam's 
family,  a  branch  very  different  from  the  cold,  frosty  Yankee. 
He  is  a  jovial  fellow,  still  bearing  his  Indian  wars  fresh  in 
his  memory,  and  loving  races,  rows,  cards,  and  dice  more 
than  is  absolutely  necessary;  tossing  his  head,  and  boasting 
somewhat  of  being  descended  from  Old  Virginia,  who,  you 
are  aware,  dates  her  genealogy  from  a  younger  son  of  a  noble 
English  race,  and  consequently  looks  down  somewhat  con- 
temptuously on  her  plebeian  brethren,  as  younger  sons  of  old 
families  are  prone  to  do.  His  head  is  less  cool  than  that  of 
his  brother  Yankee,  but  his  heart  also  is  warmer,  and  in  the 
right  spot.  Some  seventy  years  since,  his  ancestors,  a  number 
of  those  sons  of  Virginia,  overstepped  her  present  western 
boundary  in  search  of  discoveries  and  adventures.  At  that 
time  woody  darkness  lay  spread  over  the  entire  Ohio  and 
Mississippi.  The  lowest  shores  of  these  endless  streams,  and 
of  our  Red  River,  were  at  that  time  but  thinly  settled  by 
Frenchmen.  When  the  brave  wanderers  penetrated  deeper 
into  the  majestic  darkness  of  the  natural  forest,  and  ap- 
proached the  gruesome  'bloody  ground,'  as  the  present  Ken- 
tucky was  styled,  and  heard  the  wild  music  of  cougars, 
panthers,  bears,  and  wolves,  they  were  terrified.  Still  they 
persevered  in  the  joyous  hope  of  meeting  the  Ohio;  but  when 

7  Cf.  Ibid. 

^  Skinner,  Pioneers,  p.  33. 

a  Pflanzerleben,  pt.  I,  pp.  285-288. 

1^  Author's  footnote:  "The  Ohio  called  'Beautiful  River'  by  the 
Frenchman."  This  is  not  quite  correct,  for  it  is  only  a  translation  of 
the  Indian  word  'Ohio',  which  means  beautiful  river. 

130  . 


NATIONAL  TYPES 

they  penetrated  deeper  into  the  heart  of  the  'bloody  ground* 
without  reaching  their  aim,  and  suddenly  the  whoop  of  the 
red  men  sounded  in  their  ears,  their  courage  failed  and,  hor- 
rorstruck,  they  fled  for  their  homes.  Some  seventy  years  have 
elapsed  since  that  day,^^  and  if  now  your  path  goes  through 
the  'bloody  ground,'  you  almost  stumble,  I  may  say,  over 
cities  of  five  and  ten  thousand  inhabitants  in  the  very  midst  of 
those  forests  which  terrified  the  first  adventurers  of  Virginia 
in  so  fearful  a  manner  ....  And  this  is  the  work  of  the  jovial, 
and  often  inconsiderate  Kentuckian,  notwithstanding  his  Irish 
deviltry,^-  and  his  wild  rough-and-tumble  habits,  and  his  oc- 
asional  contempt  for  his  brethren  of  Uncle  Sam's  family, 
when  he  remembers  his  transatlantic  origin."^'' 

This  Kentuckian  we  shall  characterize  now,  and  throw 
enough  light  upon  his  "Irish  deviltry"  to  understand  why  he 
should  be  the  "horror  of  all  Creoles,  who,  when  they  wish 
to  describe  the  highest  degree  of  barbarity,  designate  it  by  the 
name  of  Kentuckian."^*  In  The  Americans'^^  the  author 
repeats  a  conversation  which  he  had  with  some  Kentuckians 
on  his  trip  in  1826.  Somewhere  near  Bigbone  Lick  he  stopped 
at  a  farm  house  "of  a  rather  better  ap])earance ;"  but  the  first 
night's  lodging  convinced  him  but  too  plainly,  "that  the  in- 

11  Sealsficld,  of  course,  knew  nothing  of  the  first  explorations  of 
this  country  which  fell  into  the  years  1560-1574.  Daniel  Boone  and  his 
followers,  of  whom  the  author  is  thinking,  had  been  preceded  by  many 
a  pioneer. — Cf.  Alvord  and  Bidgood,  first  Explorations. 

1-  Winsor,  Justin,  IVestivard  Movement,  p.  528,  speaks  of  the 
"lawless  profligacy  of  the  border,  which  the  Irish  had  done  so  much 
to  maintain." 

13  Cf.  Flint,  Recollections,  pp.  66-67.  "I  was  much  amused  to  see 
the  countenances  of  some  of  the  hoary  patriarchs  of  this  country, 
with  whom  1  stayed,  brighten  up  instantly,  as  they  began  to  paint  the 
aspect  of  this  land  of  flowers  and  game,  as  they  saw  it  when  they 
first  arrived  here  ....  Indeed  the  first  settlement  of  the  country, 
the  delightful  scenes,  which  it  opened,  the  singular  character  of  the 
first  adventurers,  who  seem  to  have  been  a  compound  of  the  hero,  the 
philosopher,  the  faiTner,  and  the  savage  .  .  ." 

!■*  The  Americans,  p.  143. — ^Cf.  Peck's  Guide  to  the  West,  p.  124. 
"The  name  of  Kentuckian  is  constantly  associated  with  the  idea  of 
fighting,  drinking,  and  gouging  (Quoted  from  Hall's  Sketches  of  the 
West). 

15  Ihid.,  p.  22ff. 

131   


CHARLES  SEAI,SFIEI.D 

habitants  of  this  state,  justly  called  in  N^ew  York,  half  horse 
and  alligator,^^  had  not  yet  assumed  a  milder  character."  The 
"stranger"^^  was  welcomed  with  a  dram  of  whiskey  and  the 
customary  question  as  to  where  his  home  was.  The  Ken- 
tuckian  having  been  informed  that  it  was  Pennsylvania,  saw 
an  opportunity  to  express  his  opinion  on  that  state  and  its  in- 
habitants. Comparing  them  with  the  Kentuckians,  he  says : 
"I  like  the  people  of  Pennsylvania  better  than  these  G-d  d — d 
Yankees,  but  still  they  are  no  Kentuckians  ....  The  Ken- 
tuckians are  astonishingly  mighty  people,  they  are  the  first 
people  on  earth  .  .  .  They  are  immensely  great,  and  wonder- 
fully^^ powerful  people  .  .  .  They  are  ten  times  superior  to 
any  nation  on  earth^^  .  .  .  The  Pennsylvanians  have  not  a 
square  mile  of  land  in  their  state  equal  to  our  poor  lands. "^^ 

16  Thornton,  Richard  H.,  American  Glossary,  v.  I,  pp.  410-413, 
gives  the  following  explanation  of  this  pecuHar  phrase :  "A  ludicrous 
appellation  of  boatmen  and  backwoodsmen  in  former  days,"  and 
illustrates  it  with  thirty-three  quotations  found  in  backwoods  literature 
between  1809  and  1860,  to  which  we  are  in  position  to  add  seven  more : 
"The  Americans,  p.  22,  quoted  above;  Ralph  Doughty,  p.  72,  "Don't 
be  a  half  horse,  half  alligator." — Ibid.,  p.  217,  "I  remarked  about  a 
dozen  half  horse  and  alligator  faces,  who  might  easily  clear  the 
table  before  we  have  enjoyed  the  view  of  it." — Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  I, 
p.  172,  "1  shake  my  head  reprovingly  while  he  approaches,  the  man  of 
the  spur,  around  whom  a  number  of  yelling,  laughing,  half  horse,  half 
alligator  countenances  have  collected,  to  see  the  man  who  has  boasted 
he  could  empty  the  Red  River." — ^Grund,  Aristokratie,  v.  II,  p.  63, 
refers  to  Mrs.  Trollop's  half  horse,  half  alligator  race  of  the  West — 
Flint,  History  and  Geography,  p  137,  Kentuckians,  designated  with  the 
"repulsive  terms  backwoodsmen,  gougers,  ruffians,  demi-savages,  a 
strange  mixture  in  the  slang  phrase  of  the  'horse  and  alligator'."— 
Grund,  Die  Americaner  p.  204  speaking  of  western  settlers :  "Their 
amphibious  nature,  originating  in  the  necessity  to  become  familiar  at 
an  early  age  with  navigation  on  the  western  waters,  and  the  braveness 
of  their  undertaking  have  given  them  the  characteristic  name  of  half 
horse  and  halt  alligator." 

1"^  "This  is  a  western  term,  which  supplies  the  place  of  the  word 
'friend'  in  other  sections  of  the  Union." — •Schoolcraft,  Henry,  Red 
Race  of  America,  p.  46. — Of.  Robbs,  John  S.,  Squatter  Life,  p.  65. 

18  Western  phraseology  and  pronunciation  is  rendered  best  by 
Robb's  Squatter  Life. 

19  Flint,  History  and  Geography,  characterizes  them  as  being  very 
boastful  and  says  the  following  concerning  their  love  for  their  home 
state :  "When  the  Kentuckian  encounters  danger  of  battle  or  any 
kind,  when  he  is  even  on  board  a  foundering  ship,  his  last  exclamation 
is  'hurrah  for  old  Kentucky'." 

20  The  fertility  of  Kentucky  land  of  this  time  is  described  in 
Winsor,  Westward  Movement,  p.  528. 

132  


NATIONAL.  TYPES 

Now  he  describes  a  hand  to  hand,  or  rather  a  thumb  to  eye 
fight,  which  he  had  just  witnessed,  never  omitting  a  curse- ^ 
if  he  can  find  a  place  for  one,  caUing  the  seconds  wonderfully 
lovely  fellows  because  they  did  not  spoil  the  sport  with  inter- 
fering, and  then  he  continues :  "I  presume  you  have  races  in 
Pennsylvania?" — "Yes  Sir" — ''and  fightings  and  gougings?"-- 
— "No  Sir" — "Yes,"  he  finally  ended  his  remarks  and  in- 
quiries with  a  sardonic  smile,  "the  Pennsylvanians  are  a  quiet, 
religious  sort  of  people;  they  don't  kill  anything  but  their 
hogs,  and  prefer  giving  their  money  to  their  parsons." 

Indeed  there  are  low  and  lawless  people  everywhere,  and 
one  does  not  need  to  go  back  to  the  nationality  of  the  an- 
cestors of  that  class;  but  it  seems  that  beside  a  daring  ad- 
venturous spirit,  without  which  the  settlers  of  the  first  hun- 
dred years-^  could  never  have  maintained  themselves,  the  very 
life  of  a  frontiersman — a  new  type  in  history,  which  was 
developed  before  1700^*— and  above  all,  his  constant  strug- 
gles, could  not  nurture  many  noble  qualities.  ^^"They  estab- 
lished themselves  under  a  state  of  continual  warfare  with  the 
Indians,  who  took  their  revenge  by  communicating  to  their 
vanquishers  their  cruel  and  implacable  spirit  ....  A  Ken- 
tuckian  will  wait  three  or  four  weeks  in  the  woods  for  the 
moment  of  satisfying  his  revenge,  and  he  seldom  or  never 
forgives."  It  is  quite  possible  that  the  frontiersman  has  as- 
sumed some  peculiarly  Indian  traits.  Through  constant  con- 
tact with  this  savage   race,  he  may  have  been  imbued  with 

21  Everywhere  in  contemporaneous  literature  these  people  are 
rebuked  for  their  profanity. 

22  In  Ralph  Doughhy,  p.  158,  which  was  written  nine  years  later, 
we  read  about  this  praiseworthy  custom :  "In  gouging,  you  know, 
I  am  a  novice ;  it  is  not  the  fashion  either  in  Louisiana  or  Old 
Virginia" — -"And  neither  in  Old  Kentucky!  No  Kentuckian  of  any 
rcspcctabihty  does  it." — ^Cf.  Flint,  Recollections,  p.  98.  "Indeed,  I 
saw  more  than  one  man  who  wanted  an  eye,  and  ascertained  that  I 
was  now  in  the  region  of  'gouging'.  It  is  to  be  understood  that  it  is  a 
surgical  operation,  which  they  think  only  proper  to  be  practiced  upon 
blackguards  and  their  equals." 

2S  For  first  expeditions  into  Kentucky  territory,  see  Alvord,  C. 
W.,  First  Explorations  (1650-1674). 

24  Ibid.,  p.  27,  Alvord,  Illinois  Country,  p.  121. 

25  The  Americans,  p.  50. 

133  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

parts  of  its  nature.-*^  Another  evil  which  influences  their 
character  and  behavior  is  slavery  and  the  wealth  and  in- 
dependence of  the  slave  holder  resulting  from  it.  ^'"Passions 
must  work  with  double  power  and  effect,  where  wealth,  and 
arbitrary  sway  over  a  herd  of  slaves,-^  and  a  warfare  of 
thirty  years  with  savages,  have  sown  the  seeds  of  the  most 
lawless  arrogance  and  an  untamable  spirit  of  revenge." 

26  Cf.  Turner,  Frontier  in  American  History,  p.  201. 

27  The  Americans,  pp.  51-52. 

28  Cf.  Warden,  Account  of  the  United  States,  p.  327,  speaking  of 
Kentucky:  "Slaver}^,  however,  has  taught  the  rich  to  despise  labor, 
and  planted  the  seeds  of  other  vices  in  their  character." 


1B4 


RALPH  DOUGHBY. 

"The  Kentuckian  as  he  Is  and  Lives." 

There  are  also  many  noble  traits  in  the  Kentuckian  cha- 
racter. These  Sealsfield  depicts  so  well  that  the  reader  can- 
not help  acquiring  a  liking  for  Ralph  Doughby,  ''the  Ken- 
tuckian as  he  is  and  lives, "^  a  man,^  "rough,  but  not  coarse, 
fiery,  but  not  unfeeling.  On  the  contrary  he  has  all  the 
tender  feeling  of  the  Kentuckians,  when  touched  in  the  right 
place.  "  ^"Not  the  least  suspicion  of  connection  with  black, 
quadroon,  or  white  beauties,  rests  upon  him;  he  is  much  too 
volatile,  even  too  proud,  for  that.  His  madness  is,  in  reality, 
nothing  but  the  exuberant  spirit  of  an  unspoiled  child  of 
nature — of  a  natural  Kentuckian."  But  actions  speak  louder 
than  words : 

Several  disappointments  in  foolish  love  affairs,  but  above 
all  his  love  for  adventure,  and  a  desire  for  economic  better- 
ment, which  was  the  one  great  driving  force  in  the  American 
westward  march,  prompted  him  to  buy  some  Mississippi  land 
with  "improvements."  After  having  served  at  the  tender  age 
of  seventeen  under  "Old  Hickory"  in  the  Seminole  war,^  he 
leaves  his  home  on  Cumberland-bend  and  departs  with  several 
negroes  for  his  new  abode  near  New  Feliciana,  Louisi- 
ana,'^ which  he  finds,  of  course,  in  a  deplorable  condition.  But 
diligence  and  judgment  create  a  valuable  plantation,  and 
Doughby,  though  looked  down  upon  by  most  Creole  planters 
just  because  he  has   come   from  Kentucky,   is  honored   and 

1  Ralph  Doughbx   Chap.   IV   is   entitled   "Der   Kentuckier,   wie   cr 
leibt  imd  lebt." 

2  Ibid.,  p.  178. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  179. 

4  Cf.  Ralph  Doughby,  p.  125,  footnote. 

•'»  There  is  a  Parish  of  East  Feliciana  and  West  Feliciana. 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

esteemed  by  all  American  settlers.  Soon  he  begins  wooing 
again,  not  exactly  as  "wild  Ralph"  did  when  on  the  Cumber- 
land, but  nevertheless  in  a  manner  so  daring  and  foolhardy 
that  he  causes  his  beloved,  Emily  Warren,  to  be  at  times 
much  disgusted  with  him.  During  a  river  trip  on  the  Helen 
MacGregor^  up  the  Mississippi  into  the  Ohio,  Doughby 
notices  that  the  George  Washington,  a  new  boat  with  two 
hundred  horse  power,  is  about  to  overtake  them.  At  the 
moment  that  becomes  clear  to  him,  he  leaves  his  beloved  and 
entreats  the  captain  to  take  up  a  race  in  spite  of  the  superior 
force  of  his  adversary,  until  the  captain  acts  as  though  he 
were  possessed  with  demons.  The  good  work  of  the  stokers, 
produced  by  the  promise  of  a  ten  dollar  bill  for  each  man, 
keeps  the  Helen  MacGregor  in  the  lead  until  she  is  within 
half  a  mile  from  Trinity.  Then  she  loses ;  no  one  on  deck 
knows  the  reason, — until  an  investigation  below  shows  that  a 
Negro  not  being  able  to  withstand  the  tears  and  promises  of 
the  women  and  some  "soft-soap  Creoles,"  had  opened  a  valve. 
Miss  Warren  was  very  angry,  and  the  old  gentleman  as  mad 
and  stiflf  as  a  pair  of  fire  tongs,  but  Doughby  could'nt  help 
it,  "honor  goes  above  all.''" 

At  another  time,  when  looking  at  some  land  near  Yellow 
Springs,  Ohio,  they  passed  the  Miami  Cliffs,^  when  one  of  the 
company  makes  the  remark  that  some  years  ago  a  Kentuckian 
is  said  to  have  jumped  across  the  abyss,  but  as  the  story  goes, 
almost  lost  his  life — "and  that  moment  it  seemed,"  says 
Doughby,  "as  if  a  dozen  devils  were  laughing  at  me  from 
below.  A  Kentuckian  is  said  to  have  jumped  across?  ....  In 
one  minute  you  can  say,  a  Kentuckian  has  jumped  across,  and 
that  sound  and  safe."  No  one  can  prevent  him,  he  jumps, 
slips,  and  hangs  over  the  abyss,  holding  himself  only  with  the 
tips  of  his  fingers  on  a  rock.  Emily  saves  his  life,  but  at  the 
same  time  requests  Doughby  to  consider  the  relations  which 

^»  This  steamer  was  destroyed  in  an  explosion  a  year  later. 

7  RaJph  Doughby,  pp.  142-155. 

8  Cf.  Footnote  ibid.,  p.  \6?. — Die  Vereiniatcn  Sfaaten,  v.  IT,  p.  50. 
The  cliflfs  in  question  must  be  those  on  the  Little  Miami,  east  of 
Dayton.  .    :  r-^-- 

136  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

had  existed  between  them  as  terminated.^  He  still  hopes,  but 
he  is  soon  to  find  out  that  ''she  has  real  Yankee  stubbornness, 
and  never  forgives." 

One  day  the  same  party  is  going  down  the  Mississippi, 
and  is  just  about  to  turn  in  the  Red  River,  "when  a  boat 
crossed  over  from  Woodville,  and  had  already  approached 
within  a  hundred  yards,  ere  the  watch  on  deck  observed  it. 
It  passed  through  the  numberless  floating  logs  and  trees  with  a 
swiftness  and  daring  which  to  us,  who  were  near  the  middle 
of  the  stream,  seemed  almost  madness."  It  was  Doughby 
again.  "The  madcap  stood  in  the  boat,  which  danced  up  and 
down  amid  logs,  as  straight  as  an  arrow,  scarce  swerving  to 
either  side.  The  six  negroes  who  rowed  it  were  drenched 
from  the  splashing  waves."  He  caught  a  rope  thrown  him, 
and  after  having  been  cast  like  a  "featherball"  against  the  side 
of  the  steamer,  he  jumped  with  one  leap  across  the  railing. 
He  had  made  this  little  excursion  to  see  Emily,  who  had  no- 
thing but  a  disgusted  look  as  thanks  for  his  heroic  voyage. 
While  drinking  several  glasses  of  toddy  and  Monongahela,  he 
laments  his  fate,  calling  himself  the  most  unfortunate  devil  in 
all  the  world,  and  wishing  himself  three  hundred  feet  down 
in  the  bottom  of  the  Mississippi"^'*  The  red-hot,  burning, 
boiling  Kentuckian,  however,  realizes  that  he  only  needs  a 
woman  to  set  him  right, — the  woman  w^hom  his  very  next 
adventure  is  to  give  him  in  the  person  of  a  beautiful  Creole 
girl. 

A  buck  which  had  escaped  the  rifle  of  an  Indian  was 
swimming  from  the  right  to  the  left  shore.  Doughby  caused 
a  boat  to  be  lowered,  and  the  next  minute  he  stood  in  it  brand- 
ishing a  six  foot  gun.  The  oarsmen  succeeded  in  reaching  the 
much  frightened  animal  before  the  Indians  did,  and  Ralph, 
taking  the  buck  by  his  horns,  jumped  into  the  water  and  tried 
to  cut  his  throat.  The  knife  slipped  out  of  his  hands,  a 
struggle  ensued  between  the  two,  and  Doughby  was  very  near 

9  Ralph  Doughby,  pp.  160-174. 

10  Ralph  Doughby,  pp.  101-105. 

•  137  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

being  killed  when  the  Indian  came  to  his  rescue.  Although 
the  redskin  had  killed  the  animal,  he  withdrew  leaving  the 
prey  to  his  white  competitor.  But  now  Doughby  shows  the 
good  true  heart  which  he  has  in  his  bosom  and  dearly  pay.> 
for  the  buck  with  silver  dollars  and  several  bottles  of  rum, 
against  the  desire  of  all  present. ^^ 

We  must  not  wonder,  then,  if  Julia  de  Menou,  daughter 
of  a  rich  and  influential  Creole  planter,  learns  to  like  him, 
for  he  ^-"is  indeed  no  bad  boy,  boiling  hot,  that  is  true,  always 
foremost  when  there  is  anything  extraordinary  to  be  done,  but 
his  heart  is  under  all  circumstances  in  the  right  place ;  and 
with  all  his  impetuosity,  he  has  in  his  behavior  something  so 
inartificial,  so  much  ease — I  might  say  grace,  if  this  epithet 
could  be  applied  to  a  Doughby."  It  was  love  at  first  sight, 
which  culminated  in  an  elopement.  After  the  excitement 
resulting  from  it  is  over,  Doughby  gives  expression  to  his 
happiness  and  joy  in  the  following  words:  ^-^"All  shall  be 
merry  today !  Papa  Menou  has  pardoned  me !  I  am  indeed, 
the  best  soul — only  all  must  go  by  impulse.  I'll  carry  my 
Julia  on  my  hands,  and  all  shall  carry  her  on  their  hands. 
I'll  snap  the  head  oflf  everyone  who  shows  her  an  unpleasant 
face,  just  like  a  snapping  turtle.  I'll  be  shot,  by  Jingo,  I  will! 
Try  and  be  merry.  Papa  Menou  has  pardoned  me !"  Their 
marriage  is  a  happy  one,  and  Doughby  prospers  even  more 
and  becomes  the  envy  of  his  Creole  neighbors.  ^*"That  a 
light  hearted  Kentuckian  who  came  amongst  them  with  half 
a  dozen  negroes  and  one  thousand  dollars  should  have  risen 
to  an  important  station  in  society,  and  have  drawn  a  prize 
in  the  lottery  of  matrimony  and  should  now  dare  to  take  nn 
active  part  in  politics,  makes  him  odious  in  their  eyes." 

11  Ralph  Doughby,  pp.  191-201. 

12  Ibid.,  p.  202. 

13  Ibid.,  p.  333. 

14  Pflaiirjerlebcu,  pt.  I,  p.  214. 


138 


Chapter  III. 

BACKWOODS   SETTLERS. 

In  Ralph  Doughby  we  have  a  representative  of  the  Amer- 
ican planter  in  Louisiana,  who  has  come  with  some  means  to 
settle  on  the  land  to  which  he  has  a  claim.  Since  it  com- 
prises a  large  tract  of  cleared  land,  and  since  transportation 
facilities  are  excellent,  he  has  a  sure  and  ever  increasing  in- 
come. Within  several  years  his  slaves  alone  will  represent  a 
considerable  capital.  But  there  are  other,  less  fortunate 
settlers  in  the  lower  regions  of  the  Mississippi ;  people  vnIio 
})rc>bahly  live  there  in  banishment,  \oluntary  or  involuntary, 
for  none  but  outcasts  will  choose  to  breathe  the  pestilential 
vapors  of  swamps.  During  a  Red  River  excursion  just  after 
passing  the  first  bog  through  which  streams  the  "infernal  Red 
River,"  we  approach  the  bank  in  order  to  take  in  fuel.  There 
we  witness  the  pitiful  sight  of  a  Negress  waiting  for  the  death 
of  her  husband,  a  French  imperial  guard  who  had  been 
"spared  in  the  deserts  of  Egypt,  the  battles  of  Marengo  and 
Waterloo,"  and  who  is  now  dying  of  fever  and  ague. 

^"What  a  paradox  is  man!  Had  this  unfortunate  been 
sent  to  this,  or  a  similar  pestilential  place  by  his  superior  of- 
ficers, no  gold  on  earth  could  have  induced  him  to  remain. 
But  he  came  voluntarily,  probably  driven  from  better  society 
by  his  connection  with  the  Negress,"  and  now  he  falls  per- 
haps a  just  sacrifice  to  his  passions.  The  spot  on  which  his 
cabin  stands  is  not  even  his  own  property,  but  for  that  he 
cares  not.  He  has  cleared  a  few  acres  of  wilderness,  planted 
some  corn  and  tobacco,  the  sale  of  which  and  of  wood,  supports 
him,  and  might  have  made  him  wealthy,  had  this  ugly  Negress 

1  George  Hozvard,  pp.  212-214. 

2  The  "Black  Code"  of  Louisiana  aimed  to  regulate  the  relations 
beUveen  Whites  and  Blacks.— Cf.  Deiler,  Settlement  of  the  Genuan 
Coast  of  Louisiana,  p.  114. 

139  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

not  been  connected  with  him.  His  cabin  stands  a  few  steps 
back,  and  before  the  door  a  couple  of  dark  brown  imps  are 
waddUng  in  the  mud.  They  look  more  like  pigs  than  human 
beings,  but  they  are  fresh  and  hardy,  and  destined  by  nature 
to  cultivate  this  ground.  Their  parents  vegetate  only  a  few 
years,  till  'ague-cake'^  ends  their  sorrows.  By  hard  labor 
they  have  built  their  hut;  with  the  sweat  of  their  brow  they 
have  cleared  a  little  place,  but  their  children  reap  the  benefits 
of  their  toil.  Born  in  this  poisonous  atmosphere,  used  to  these 
pestilential  vapors  in  early  childhood,  they  are  already  ac- 
climated, and  they  grow  up  like  the  swamp  rose,  to  transmit 
good  health  to  their  children  and  grandchildren.  In  this  way 
arose  the  present  population  of  lower  Louisiana,  and  in  the 
same  way,  this  race  will  multiply  here.  The  former  has  long 
since  decayed ;  they  came  from  all  climates  and  all  countries, 
debtors,  revolutionists,  criminals,  exiles,  and  men  who  de- 
served a  better  fate ;  all — all  found  a  grave  here ;  but  even  in 
these  worthless  beings,  as  we  call  them  in  our  pride,  kind 
nature  shows  her  motherly  care.  Yes,  what  is  deemed  can- 
cerous by  the  world — the  scum,  the  dregs  of  civilized  society 
— she  uses  to  populate  this  wilderness,  and  pave  the  way  for 
the  onward  march  of  civilization." 

Another  type  of  settlers  in  the  backwoods  of  Louisiana  is 
described  in  George  Howard  (pp.  190-191),  where  the  author 
tells  us  of  a  young  couple  who  has  left  civilized  society  and 
now  begins  anew  in  the  West.  "Happy  will  it  be  for  us  if 
future  generations  do  not  view  this  way  of  renovating  society 
as  too  loathsome !" 

In  the  attempt  to  characterize  the  Kentuckians  we  have 
referred  to  a  goodly  portion  of  the  desperado  element,  which, 

3  In  a  footnote  on  page  212  in  George  Howard,  Sealsfield  defines 
this  a^ne-cake  as  a  swcllin.s:  on  the  lower  part  of  the  abdomen,  an 
immediate  omen  of  approaching  dissolution — Cf  Flint,  Timothy,  His- 
tory and  Geography,  p.  39.  "But  these  agues  when  often  repeated,  and 
long  continued,  gradually  sap  the  constitution  and  break  down  the 
powers  of  Hfe.  The  person  becomes  enfeebled  and  dropsical.  Maras- 
mus, or  what  is  called  'cachexy'  ensues.  A  very  common  result  is  that 
enlargement  of  the  spleen,  vulgarly  called  'an  ague-cake'  " — Cf.  Birk- 
beck,  Morris,  Notes  on  a  Journey  in  America,  p.  72. 

140  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

of  course,  we  must  also  expect  in  the  farther  West.  Yet  we 
must  not  expect  to  find  an  inhuman  soul  where  we  find  a 
wild  exterior,  and  though  a  long  knife  be  worn  in  the  girdle, 
it  may  never  have  been  used  on  any  living  creature  except 
wild  animals  or,  perhaps,  a  treacherous  Indian.  On  Missis- 
sippi and  Red  River  steamers  we  can  find  representatives  of 
almost  every  western  state,  and  surely  of  every  backwoods 
type.  Thus  we  read  in  Ralph  Doughby :  *''On  the  dividing 
line  between  the  fore  and  aft  deck,  and  in  equal  distance  from 
stern  to  bow,  stood  a  group  which  could  not  be  met  with  in 
our  country  again.  It  seems  as  if  all  the  western  states  and 
territories  had  sent  representatives  on  board  our  steamer. 
Suckers  from  Illinois,  and  Badgers"'  from  the  lead  mines  of 
Missouri,  and  Wolverines  from  Michigan,  and  Buckeyes  from 
Ohio,  intermingled  with  Redhorses  from  Old  Kentucky,  and 
trappers  from  Oregon,  stood  in  the  most  lovely  confusion  be- 
fore us,  and  in  costumes  which  in  the  glare  of  the  torches 
gave  them  the  appearance  of  delegates  from  Pandemonium. 
One  had  a  hunter's  blouse  of  blue  and  white  striped  calico, 
which  gave  his  broad  back  the  appearance  of  bearing  a 
tremendous,  walking  feather-bed  cover ;  another  made  him- 
self remarkable  by  a  large  straw  hat,  which  looked  like  the 
chimney-roofs  on  our  villas.  Winnebago  wampum  girdles  and 
Cherokee  moccasins,  leather  jackets,  made  out  of  tanned  and 
untanned  deer  skins,  with  New  York  dress  coats,  and  red  and 
blue  jackets,  formed  here  a  perfect  pattern  card  of  our  na- 
tional costumes."^ 

And  again :  ^"A  strange  class  of  people !  I  almost  be- 
lieved I  was  in  Old  Kentucky.  Drovers  and  butchers  from 
New  Orleans,  who  were  on  their  way  to  the  northwestern 
countries — half  savage  hunters  and  trappers,  burning  with  a 

4  Ralph  Doughby,  pp.   16-17. 

5  The  author  erroneously  calls  the  Missourians  Badgers,  an  ap- 
pellation given  to  inhabitants  of  Wisconsin ;  those  of  Missouri  are 
called  Pukes. 

6  Peck's  Guide  to  the  West,  pp.  116-117,  describes  the  dress  of  the 
frontiersman. 

7  George  Howard,  pp.  208-209. 

141  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

desire  soon  to  see  the  prairies  beyond  Nacogdoches,^  and 
there  to  civilize  the  Indians,  or  rather,  swindle  them — and 
peddlers  from  Alexandria,  or  thereabouts ;  these  formed  the 
so-called  respectable  part  of  our  company,  and  they  were  a 
solid  set,  to  judge  from  the  thickness  of  their  soles  and  iron- 
shod  heels." 

In  the  following  passage  Sealsfield  with  the  hand  of  the 
artist,  sketches  a  picture  of  the  extreme  southwestern  popula- 
tion, which  just  at  this  time  experienced  a  rapid  growth  due  to 
every  kind  of  undesirable  human  material  settling  in  the 
border  states,  whence  most  left  for  Texas  at  the  outbreak  of 
the  rebellion  in  1834,  there,  perhaps,  to  redeem  their  souls  by 
sacrificing  their  bodies  at  the  altar  of  liberty.  ®"Some  of  our 
dinner  company,"  says  George  Howard,  "now  looked  like 
desperadoes,  and,  as  if  to  preserve  perfect  consistency,  each 
of  them  is  armed  with  a  knife,  whose  horn  shafts  peep  out  of 
their  breast  pockets.  It  is  worth  while  to  become  better  ac- 
quainted with  this  collection  of  human  curiosities,  and  to  learn 
their  biographies.  Merchants  from  Santa  Fe,  squatters  from 
Arkansas  territory,  settlers  from  Ouachita, ^^'  trappers  from 
the  Sabine,  emigrants  from  Colonel  Austin's^^  colony  in  Texas, 
the  new  land  of  brigands,  standing,  sitting,  half  lying,  their 
feet  on  the  chairs." 

NATHAN,  THE  SQUATTER  REGULATOR. 

Nathan,  the  Squatter  Regulator,  as  pointed  out  before,  is 
a  novel  portraying  backwoods  life.  The  character  of  tlie 
frontiersman,  his  daily  life  with  its  joys  and  sorrows,  and  his 
relation  to  the  colony,  are  pictured  as  well  as  the  life  of  the 
entire  community,  its  customs,  laws,  and  its  relation  to  the 
state. 

■"^  Nacogdoches,  the  first  Mexican  town  after  leaving  Louisiana, 
footnote  on  page  209.  Today  it  is  situated  in  the  county  of  the  same 
name  in  Texas. 

9  Ralph  Doughby,  pp.  220-22L 

^0  Baron  Bastrop  and  the  Marquis  of  Baton  Rouge  had  large 
grants  on  the  Ouachita,  where  they  settled  colonists. 

11  Stephen  F.  Austin  made  his  first  trip  to  Texas  in   182L 

142  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

In  the  year  1792  four  families,  who  were  banished  froni 
their  homes  on  the  Salt  River^-  in  Kentucky/'^  floated  down 
the  Ohio  into  the  Mississippi,  and  thence  rowed  up  the  Red 
River  to  find  some  land  where  "an  honest  squatter"^^  might 
settle  without  fear  of  being  taken  as  a  luncheon  by  an  al- 
ligator, or  being  shown  a  house  farther  on  by  a  sheriff." 
Somewhere  just  above  the  mouth  of  the  Black  River  they 
landed  and  went  in  a  southern  direction,  until  they  found  a 
beautiful  stretch  of  "transcendent  land,"  apparently  claimed 
by  no  one,  for  neither  cuts  nor  carvings  could  be  found  in  the 
trees. ^^  Here  they  erected  their  log  houses  and  broke  some 
ground  for  the  coming  season.  But  since  their  flour  and 
whiskey  barrels  began  to  show  the  bottom,  they  shot  a  dozen 
bears  and  several  dozen  of  deer,  and  filled  a  boat  with  the 
hams  and  legs  of  venison,  bear  grease,  and  skins,  and  started 
on  a  voyage  down  the  Mississippi  to  New  Orleans ;  after 
bribing  the  harbor  master^^  with  a  dozen  bears'  clav^s,  they 

12  The  Salt  River  is  a  tributary  of  the  Ohio  from  the  Kentucky 
side. 

1^  About  this  time  there  was  great  interest  in  Kentucky,  which 
caused  no  little  fear  amongst  Spanish  officials — Cf.  Winsor,  IVeshvard 
Movement,  p.  526.  "There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Spanish  stood  in 
dread  of  some  ebullition  of  passion  which  would  hurl  a  large  force 
against  their  settlement  on  the  Mississippi,  and  the  Kentuckians  were 
spoken  of  in  connection  with  the  Cumberland  settlers,  as  'restless, 
poor,  ambitious,  and  capable  of  the  most  daring  enterprises',  and 
Carondelet  was  fearful  of  their  ultimate  attempts  to  cross  the  Mis- 
sissippi" 

14  Nathan,  p.  30,  author's  footnote:  "Squatter,  from  squat,  to  sit 
in  Indian  fashion ;  thus  are  called  backwoodsmen,  who,  without  caring 
for  title  of  possession,  settle  on  any  piece  of  land,  build  a  log  cabin, 
and  till  the  soil.  Half  hunter,  half  farmer,  they  can  be  considered  a 
middle  class  between  hunters  proper,  and  backwoodsmen.  Many 
remain  scjuatters  all  their  life,  others  settle  lawfully,  and  thus  return 
to  society." 

1*^  Cf.  passages,  p.  39  and  305.  It  is  hard  to  determine  just  where 
Sealsfield  places  the  settlement.  But  it  must  have  been  in  the  extreme 
southern,  or  most  probably,  southwestern  part  of  Avoyclle  County,  for 
this  place  alone  is  within  a  reasonable  distance  from  the  Red  River 
just  above  its  confluence  with  the  Black  River,  and  not  too  far  from 
the  Bayou  Chicot,  whence  Nathan  and  the  two  Frenchmen  walk  to 
the  colony. 

i'^  In  order  to  sell,  bribery  was  almost  necessar>%  for  the  com- 
merce restrictions  were  rather  severe — ^Cf.  Gayarre,  Charles,  History 
of  Louisiana,  v.  Ill,  p.  35.     "O'Reilly   (1769-1770)   expressly  prohibited 

143  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

sold  everything  at  a  good  price,  realizing  in  all  three  hundred 
dollars.  Near  Baton  Rouge  they  hailed  a  flat  boat  and  bought 
"a  dozen  barrels  of  corn,  and  a  half  dozen  of  flour  and 
whiskey,  with  several  other  notions." 

But  they  were  not  to  enjoy  their  possessions  in  peace. 
One  day  four  Acadians  came  across  the  prairie,  hatching 
mischief,  as  Asa  NoUins^^  and  Nathan  Strong  suspected;  but 
they  remained  apparently  calm  and  the  visit  resulted  in  the 
purchase  of  two  horses  from  the  strangers.  Yet  the  settlers 
had  a  premonition  of  evil,  and  therefore,  did  not  lose  a 
moment  to  prepare  themselves  against  a  possible  attack.  On 
an  Indian  Mound^^  nearby  they  built  a  strong  blockhouse  sur- 
rounded by  a  palisade.  Scarcely  had  the  fortification  been 
completed  and  supplied  with  the  necessary  provisions,  when 
a  troop  of  eighty-five  Spaniards  and  Acadians  came  with 
hostile  intentions.  The  siege  lasted  the  entire  day,  and 
resulted  in  a  victory  over  the  Spaniards,  who  had  lost  thirty- 
one  men  against  one  fatality  on  the  American  side.^^  Now 
that  they  had  shed  their  blood  for  the  land,  they  called  it 
rightly  theirs. 

the  purchase  of  anything  from  persons  navigating  the  Mississippi." 
(Fine,  one  hundred  dollars)— /&/c?.,  p.  183,  in  1767  Navarro,  the  In- 
tendant,  wanted  "a  prudent  extension  and  freedom  of  trade." — Ibid., 
p.  325.  In  1793  the  commercial  franchises  were  extended  and  in- 
creased. Spain  had  hitherto  confined  all  trade  to  her  natural  subjects, 
or  to  such  who  were  naturalized  and  residing  in  her  dominions. — Cf. 
San  Domingo  Archives  (Transcripts  in  IlHnois  Historical  Survey) 
A.-G.  I.  87 — 1 — 21,  No.  490.  American  families,  (qite  sean  Catolicas) 
who  were  given  permission  to  settle  in  Louisiana,  had  to  pay  six 
percent  duties  on  utensils  and  provisions  imported.  (May  4,  1787). 
As  a  consequence  of  these  restrictions  there  was  much  illicit  trade 
carried  on  by  Americans  in  Louisiana— Cf.  San  Domingo  Archives, 
A.  G.  I.  87 — 1—22.    April  21,  1795. 

1'^  This  name  was  perhaps  suggested  by  that  of  Philip  Nolan,  who 
in  1801  lead  a  filibustering  expedition  into  Texas — Cf.  Thwaites,  Barly 
Western  Travels,  v.  XVII,  p.  76. 

1*  The  settlement  was  about  twenty  miles  to  the  south  of  the 
Larto  Mounds,  Catahoula  Par.,  La. — Cf.  Beyer,  George  E.,  The 
Mounds  of  Louisiana,  especially  map  on  page  12. 

_  19  Chap.  I,  "The  Bloody  Blockhouse"— On  page  135  Sealsfield 
claims  that  a  report  of  the  conflict  between  these  Americans  and  the 
Spaniards  can  be  found  in  the  Moniteur  de  la  Louisi-ane,  and  below, 
in  the  footnote  the  editor  asserts  that  it  is  a  historical  event  (?)  and  is 
mentioned  in  periodicals  and  historical  works  of  the  time(?!)      The 

144  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

To  repel  the  Spanish  a  second  time,  in  case  they  should 
come  with  a  larger  force,  they  decided  to  send  several  letters 
to  their  former  neighbors  on  the  Salt  River,  telling  them  of 
the  beautiful  land  they  had  found  and  asking  a  dozen  families, 
or  as  many  more  as  would  like,  to  come  and  settle  with  them, 
for  there  was  ^*^''land  enough,  and  wood  to  build  houses  and 
make  fences,  without  being  obliged  to  pay  the  county  clerk 
a  cent  for  fees."  Although  Nathan  would  "prefer  ringing  an 
acre  of  the  thickest  live-oaks"  to  the  task  of  composing  these 
writings,  in  which  he,  by  the  way,  was  not  going  to  say  a 
word  about  the  ''bloody  frolic"  to  keep  "gougers,  rowdies, 
and  such  folks  away,"  he  was  just  about  to  sit  down  to  the 
task  when  some  brave  Kentuckians  came  toward  the  house. 
They  proved  to  be  relatives  and  friends  from  the  Salt  River, 
who,  while  making  some  repairs  at  Natchez  heard  and  read 
about  Asa  Nollin's  heroic  battle.  The  joy  over  their  arrival 
was  great.  But  the  following  day  they  departed  for  Old 
Kentucky,  where  a  meeting  was  called  to  vote  public  thanks  to 
their  brave  countrymen,  and  to  give  them  the  assurance  that 
many  families  would  emigrate  and  help  them  protect  their 
land  against  the  Spanish  government. ^^  Beside  two  Acadian 
families,  who  asked  permission  to  settle  in  the  colony,  and 
who  were  endured  as  neighbors,  although  they  were  never 
received  into  their  society  on  account  of  the  "abominable 
habits"  of  merrymaking  and  dancing,  the  settlement  counted 
in  1799,  seven  years  after  its  establishment,  one  hundred  and 

Moniteur  de  la  Loitisiane,  a  weekly  newspaper  (Cf.  Robertson,  Louisi- 
ana, V.  I,  p.  204)  of  which  No.  26  is  of  Aug.  25,  1794,  (printed  in  fac- 
simile in  Publ.  of  Louisiana  Hist.  Soc.  V.  I,  pt.  IV)  must  have  been 
established  about  Feb.  1,  1794.  It,  therefore,  cannot  describe  this  con- 
flict, unless  Sealsfield  has  reference  to  a  later  occurance. 
20  Nathan,  pp.  124-125. 

-1  Thus  we  can  say  of  Nathan  what  Peck,  Guide  to  the  West,  pp. 
114-115,  says  of  the  pioneer  in  general:  "It  is  quite  immaterial 
whether  he  ever  becomes  the  owner  of  the  soil.  He  is  the  occupant 
for  the  time  being,^  pays  no  rent,  and  feels  as  independent  as  the  'lord 
of  the  manor'.  With  a  horse,  cow,  and  one  or  two  breeders  of  swine, 
he  strikes  into  the  woods  with  his  family,  and  becomes  the  founder  of 
a  new  county,  or  perhaps  state.  He  builds  his  cabin,  gathers  around 
him  a  few  other  families  of  similar  taste  and  habits,  and  occupies  it 
till   the   range   is   somewhat   subdued  and  hunting  a   little  precarious." 

145  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

eighteen  families.--  Whenever  a  new  squatter  settled,  the  entire 
colony  gathered  on  a  certain  day  to  block  up  his  house,  and  if 
necessary,  on  another  day,  to  clear  several  acres  of  woodland. 
Since  a  barbecue  was  connected  with  this  custom,  these  frolics 
(the  second  is  called  clearing  frolic)  were  usually  much  en- 
joyed. 

As  this  custom  is  quite  illustrative  of  western  life,  the 
passage  describing  it  is  quoted  here:  ^••"  *It  is  a  frolic  (sa\s 
Nathan)  which  blocks  up  a  house  for  you,  and  to  which  the 
whole  community  is  invited'.  'But  what  indeed  ought  we  to 
do?'  (asks  VigneroUes)  'Well,  nothing  more  than  to  call  at 
every  house,  and  request  in  a  friendly  way  the  men  to  bring 
their  axes  with  them  to  the  frolic,  and  a  dozen  women  you 
may  invite  also.  They  will  know  what  you  want.'  ....  The 
next  morning  we  rode  around  the  colony,  inviting  the  inhabit- 
ants according  to  Nathan's  desire.  We  saw  clearly  that  some- 
thing unusual  was  on  foot,  though  we  could  not  imagine  what 
it  might  be.  Great  preparations  were  going  on  at  Nathan's 
house;  cows  were  butchered,  pans  and  kettles  were  arrayed  in 
new  order,  and  all  was  bustle  for  the  whole  day.  Early  in  the 
following  morning  the  great  conch  shell  sounded  for  our  de- 
parture, its  trumpet  tones  rolling  over  thirty  plantations. 
When  we  mounted  our  horses  the  whole  colony  was  in  com- 
motion. Nathan,  with  Mrs.  Strong  and  Miss  Mary,  was  ready 
for  the  journey — the  former  on  horseback,  the  two  latter  in 
a  carriage,  in  which  meat,  bread,  whiskey,  pans,  kettles,  and 
various  utensils  were  piled  up,  as  though  we  were  moving. 
Ourselves  with  Nathan  and  his  two  sons  formed  the  vanguard. 
We  had  gone  about  half  way,  when  the  sharp,  cracking  blows 
of  several  axes  were  heard,  and  as  we  advanced,  the  blows 

22  The  sUident  of  western  history  knows  that  Louisiana  was  very 
thinly  populated  at  the  time.  The  author  exaggerates,  especially  the 
number  of  American  settlers. — Cf.  Cox,  J.,  Bxplo rations  of  the  Louisi- 
ana Frontier,  p.  157; — Marcy,  R.  B.,  Explorations  of  the  Red  River; — 
San  Domingo  Archives,  A.  G.  L,  87—1 — 22  No.  44,  where  we  read  in  a 
letter  of  1795  of  a  contract  between  the  governor  and  the  IMarqui-- 
de  Maison  Rouge  concerning  the  settlement  of  thirty  or  more  fam- 
ilies on  the  Ouachita  at  a  hundred  pesos  for  each  family. 

23  Nathan,  pp.  362-373. 

146  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

grew  louder  and  louder.  We  rode  on  rapidly,  and  soon  saw 
some  fifty  backwoodsmen  occupied  in  cutting  down  trees. 
Still,  riders  with  their  axes  came  in  from  all  sides  ....  The 
work  grew  more  and  more  lively  ....  Some  thirty  women  and 
girls  riding  part  in  carriages  and  part  on  horseback,  came  up 
and  shook  hands  with  us,  and  as  soon  as  the  men  had  built  up 
the  kitchen,  they  began  their  cooking.  In  less  than  an  hour, 
the  fire  crackled  and  flamed  up  under  more  than  twenty  pans 
and  kettles;  roast-beef,  beef  steaks,  puddings,  and  cakes  were 
cooking,  and  barrels  of  whiskey  rolled  in  the  grass.  It  was 
a  scene  really  picturesque  and  exciting.  At  four  o'clcK'k  the 
house  stood  blocked  up — sixty  feet  long,  fifty  wide,  and  four 
stories  high,  built  of  cypress  logs  a  foot  thick.  The  work  was 
immense — incredible !  .  .  .  .  Now  came  the  feast.  Although 
the  squatters,  during  their  work,  had  snatched  many  a  mouth- 
ful of  beef  steak,  bread,  or  cake,  yet  the  principal  meal  was 
saved  to  the  last.  A  more  gay  and  jovnal  meal  was  never  be- 
fore taken  ....  The  moon  stood  high  in  the  heavens  when  we, 
in  company  with  Nathan  and  his  family,  mounted  our  horses 
to  return." 

This  blocking  'frolic'  is  followed  by  several  clearing 
frolics,  for  which,  however,  A'ignerolle  pays  so  many  hands 
for  so  many  days.-* 

'-'■*  Thornton,  R.  }!.,  American  Glossary,  defines  "frolic,'  which  is 
evidently  taken  from  Low  German  and  Dutch  frolic  and  German 
frohlicli,  as  "a  lively  'spree',"  and  his  examples  illustrate  the  word  to 
mean  nothing  else.  The  usage  in  the  above  sense  is  apparently  un- 
known to  Mr.  Thornton — Cf.  Fearon,  H.  B.,  Journey  through  Eastern 
and  Western  States  of  America,  p.  220.  "Land  is  sometimes  partially 
cleared  by  what  is  rather  ludicrously  termed  a  frolic.  A  man  having 
purchased  a  quarter  or  half  section  for  the  purpose  of  settling  dozvn, 
his  neighbors  assemble  upon  an  appointed  day :  one  cuts  the  trees,  a 
second  lops  them,  a  third  drags  them  to  the  spot  upon  which  a  log 
mansion  is  to  be  erected;  others  cross  the  logs,  roof  the  habitation, 
and  in  three  days  the  emigrant  has  a  'house  over  his  head' : — Thus 
'Mi'ds  the  American  frolic" — Cf.  Sluart,  J.,  Three  Years  in  North 
America,  v.  I,  p.  260.  "It  is  not  unusual  for  the  neighboring  farmers 
to  assist  in  conveying  the  wood,  and  the  other  operations  for  putting 
up  the  first  log  house  for  the  settler's  family,  which  is  quickly  com- 
pleted. When  the  laborers  in  this  or  other  similar  work  lend  their  as- 
sistance for  a  day,  they  call  it  a  frolic,  and  all  work  with  alacrity." — 
Cf.  Skinner,  C.  L.,  Pioneers  of  the  Old  Southwest,  p.  34.  "Every 
special  task  such  as  "raising,"  as  cabin  building  w^as  called,  was  under- 

147 


chari.es  seai^sfield 

To  be  sure,  these  people,  when  establishing  a  household, 
could  consider  only  the  practical  side.  The  necessaries  of 
life,  not  its  comforts,  were  furnished  first.  ''Here  we  could 
behold  what  the  sinewy  arms  and  active  hands  of  the  back- 
woodsmen had  done  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  future  growth 
and  prosperity  of  the  country.  A  Creole  would  have  con- 
sumed the  profits  of  the  first  crop  in  ornamenting  his  dwelling 
and  decorating  his  person;  thus  giving  to  everything  an  im- 
proved outside  air,  which  could  not  correspond  with  the 
reality  within.  Not  so  with  the  squatter;  all  was  artless,  un- 
civilized and  rude — yet  naturally  and  poetically  rude."^^ 

The  dangers  which  confronted  him  wherever  he  went, 
made  a  rifle  and  an  axe  part  of  his  indispensable  equipment. 
Even  when  he  was  working  in  the  field^^  this  rifle  was  always 
within  reach,  "for  you  know,"  says  Nathan,  ''backwoodsmen 
do  not  leave  their  rifles  far  from  them ;  they  are  their  best 
friends,  these  rifles —  friends  with  a  steady  hand  and  a  sharp 
eye."^^  In  crossing  a  swamp,  for  example,  they  are  very  often 
used  to  give  an  alligator,  who  may  be  sunning  himself  on  a 
log,  an  ounce  of  lead  into  his  eye  before  he  can  seize  the  calf 
of  one's  leg.  Even  Nathan,  the  old  swamp  trotter,  when 
crossing  the  Carancro  swamps,^^  took  a  sixteen-foot  alligator 
for  the  trunk  of  a  tree  and  would  have  been  buried  alive  in 
the  mire,  had  he  not  first  tried  the  "log"  with  the  muzzle  of 

taken  by  the  community,  chiefly  because  the  Indian  danger  necessitated 
swift  building  and  made  group  action  imperative  .  .  .  On  the  ap- 
pointed day  for  the  "raising"  the  neighbors  would  come,  riding  or 
afoot,  to  the  newcomer's  holding — the  men  with  their  rifles  and  axes, 
the  women  with  their  pots  and  kettles.  Every  child  toddled  along,  too, 
helping  to  carry  the  wooden  dishes  and  spoons.  These  free  givers 
of  labor  had  something  of  the  Oriental's  notion  of  the  sacred  ratifica- 
tion of  friendship  by  a  feast."— Cf.  Peck's  Guide  to  the  West,  p.  118. 
'"The  men  of  the  settlement,  when  notified,  collect  and  raise  the  build- 
ing."— Sealsfield,  in  a  footnote  on  page  370,  mentions  also  quilting  and 
husking  frolics. 

25  Nathan,  p.  310. 

26  Cf.  Skinner,  C.  L..  Pioneers,  p.  157. 

27  Nathan,  p.  59.— Cf.  Ibid.,  p.  10. 

28  There  is  a  Caron  Cros  Bayou  some  fifteen  miles  south  of  the 
colony. — Carancro,  Berquin-Duvallon  says  {Vue  de  la  Colonic  Bs- 
pagnole,  p.  102)  is  the  Creole  name  for  a  bird,  of  which  the  Mexican 
name  is  Gallinazo.     It  is  a  species  of  vulture,  also  called  aura  tinosa. 

■   148  ■ 


NATIONAL  TYPES 

his  gun.^^  On  one  occasion,  when  on  account  of  darkness  a 
short  cut  was  needed  through  a  swamp,  a  couple  of  backwoods- 
men made  a  path  in  the  following  way :  A  cypress  was  cut 
down  so  that  it  fell  in  the  direction  desired.  As  soon  as  it 
had  fallen, "^°  ''the  two  young  woodcutters  sprung  upon  the 
trunk,  walked  forward  on  it,  and  cut  off  all  branches  except 
those  at  the  very  top,  so  that  we  could  see  the  tree  lying  in 
the  bog,  but  mostly  on  the  surface.  They  felled  a  second,  a 
third,  fourth,"  and  so  on,  until  they  reached  solid  ground. 
This  work  was  done  with  so  much  ease,  that  it  seemed  more 
like  play  than  labor. 

The  wanderers  soon  reached  the  "Bloody  Blockhouse," 
and  Nathan  told  the  strangers  of  the  battle  with  the  Spaniards ; 
but  they  could  not  tarry  much  longer  near  the  swamps,  for 
they  had  begun  to  send  out  their  health-wrecking  vapors.  A 
drink  or  two  out  of  a  whiskey  bottle, — and  then  they  went 
home  with  Nathan.  In  the  morning  Nathan's  wife  feared  that 
the  two  Frenchmen  have  "got  the  shakes,"  but  Nathan  informs 
her  to  the  contrary  wnth  the  following  words :  ^^"  I  was  abou^ 
the  blockhouse,  you  know,  and  a'telling  them  all  about  it,  and 
you  know  the  swamp  is  not  a  thousand  steps  from  there,  and 
it  stagnates  now%  and  it's  just  the  most  dangerous  time  of  the 
year;  it  spreads  its  vapors  around  in  the  morning  and  even- 
ing, which,  because  they  are  so  much  lighter  than  the  atmos- 
phere, it  likes  so  well  to  raise.  Well,  I  saw  the  night  spectre 
come  over,  and,  therefore,  broke  up,  and  brought  them  hence. 
You  know  in  such  cases  I  always  take  a  couple  of  glasses  of 
Madeira,  and  cover  myself  up  warm;  and  the  perspiration 
brings  out  the  bad  vapors,  and  the  Madeira  disperses  the 
settling,  even  if  it  should  stick  like  leeches  to  the  veins." 
Since  spirits  are  the  only  preventive  against  chills,  we  must 
not  wonder  why  they  are  called  "consolation,"  "stomach  con- 
solation.""^ 

29  Pfianzerlehen,  pt.  II,  p.  342. 

30  Nathan,  p.  17. 

31  Nathan,  p.  167. 

32  Ihid.,  pp.  196-197. 

149  . 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

Mrs.  Strong  has  confidence  in  the  assurance  of  her  hus- 
band, and  insists  that  the  two  "Frenchers"  take  breakfast  with 
the  family.  Concerning  this  morning  meal,  Compte  de 
Vignerolles  makes  the  following  remark :  •'■'"The  breakfast 
consisted  of  pigsfeet,  pickled  in  pepper  and  vinegar,  corn- 
cakes  drowned  in  molasses,  custards,  a  roast  turkey,  venison, 
hams,  eggs,  with  an  immense  quantity  of  fruits  preserved  in 
sugar  or  vinegar,  persimmons,  the  delicious  Louisiana  cherry, 
prunes,  and  v.'ild  grapes,  which  as  you  know,  the  backwoods- 
man understands  so  well  how  to  preserve.  As  heterogeneous 
as  these  substances  were,  they  had  all  to  enter  the  alligator 
stomachs  of  the  squatters.  We  saw  them  swallow  pickled 
pigsfeet,  with  corncakes  swimming  in  molasses,  and  red  pep- 
pers in  vinegar  along  with  ham.  Sometimes  a  squatter  would 
put  his  knife  into  a  persimmon  or  prune  comfit,  put  the  load 
into  his  mouth,  and  then  push  the  dessert  plate  toward  us, 
thinking  we  would  do  the  same.  Forks  seemed  to  be  entirely 
superfluous  instruments  here.  Yet,  overlooking  these  od- 
dities, a  great  deal  of  quiet  and  order  prevailed,  which  seems 
to  be  natural  to  the  even-tempered  backwoodsmen.  The  fair 
sex  behaved  with  a  grace  which  I  had  never  expected  to  find, 
and  which  gave  us  a  most  excellent  opinion  of  Nathan's 
domestic  arrangements." 

Before  entering  upon  a  description  of  Nathan's  character 
and  manners,  and  before  depicting  the  community  life  of 
Asa's  colony,  we  feel  obliged  to  quote  Sealsfield's  curtain- 
raising  passage  of  his  backwoods  drama : 

""^''The  life  of  a  backwoodsman  soon  enchants  you,  more 
particularly  if  you  are  young,  strong,  and  healthy,  and  have 
an  eye  for  the  beauties  of  primitive  nature.  And  who  can 
help  admiring  these  eternal  forests,  that  stand  in  such 
magnificent  contrast  to  anything  that  can  be  seen  in  the  old 
world— to  all  artificial  splendor,  and  the  mere  world  of  man. 

33  Ibid.,  pp.  205-206. 

34  Nathan,  pp.  7-8.  The  very  end  of  the  quotation  is  changed 
somewhat,  and  the  last  two  sentences  are  supplemented  by  Hebbe,  G. 
C.  and  Mackay,  J.,  Translators.  Scats  field  (sic!)  Life  in  the  Ne-i^' 
World,  p.  269. 

150  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

Here,  the  stranger  feels  like  a  liberated  bird,  that  has  just  left 
its  cage  to  roam  in  unbounded  space.  A  sort  of  trembling 
anxiety — an  inexplicable  agitation— a  slight  oppression  at  the 
heart,  comes  over  the  novice  when  he  finds  himself  for  the 
first  time  among  our  western  wilds.  The  immensity  awes, 
while  the  vast  variety  confounds  him;  and  he  regains  his  self- 
confidence  only  after  he  has  tried  his  strength  and  over- 
comes dangers.  The  elasticity  of  spirit  which  he  then  ex- 
periences, is  indeed  a  mental  phenomenon,  which  meta- 
physicians would  find  difficult,  not  only  to  explain,  but  to 
describe.  A  daring  consciousness  of  inherent  power  is  one 
of  the  chief  peculiarities  of  the  backwoodsman's  character. 
Nor  is  it  strange,  that  a  man  who  is  in  daily  and  hourly  danger 
of  being  either  choked  in  a  swamp  or  drowned  in  a  bayou — 
of  being  devoured  by  an  alligator,  or  torn  to  pieces  by  a  bear 
— should  at  length  acquire  that  familiarity  with  what  is 
generally  called  danger,  which  naturally  produces  a  change  in 
their  manners,  language  and  whole  existence.  Their  phrases 
are  original  and  practical,  often  rough  and  uncouth,  it  is  true, 
but  rarely,  if  ever,  vulgar.  Their  conversation  is  usually  em- 
bellished by  figures  of  the  strongest  kind,  which  impart 
remarkable  vividness  to  their  ideas.  Their  manners  display 
a  recklessness,  which  at  one  moment  makes  your  hair  stand 
on  end,  and  the  next,  produces  a  roar  of  laughter.  Strange 
beings  are  these  children  of  the  West,  and  little  understood 
by  the  civilized  world.  They  are  a  vast  community  of  separate 
existences — each,  in  a  sense,  independent  of  every'  other  being 
except  God !" 

Surely  we  have  developed  enough  interest  in  Nathan  to 
be  desirous  now  of  making  the  further  acquaintance  of  this 
backwoods  type— the  man  in  an  untanned  leather  jacket, 
"•'^"the  republican,  backwoodsman  and  woodcutter,  who,  with 
inconceivable  sang  froid,  raises  his  shield  against  the  Spanish 
government,  conquers  its  troops,  stands  in  a  hostile  position 
to  the  governor  and  the  government,  settles  with  hundreds  of 
his  countrymen  in  this  strange  and  hostile  land,  and  does  it 

35  Nathan,  p.  154. 

151  ■ 


CHARLEvS  SEALSFIELD 

so  quietly,  so  comfortably,  so  perfectly  sans  fagon,  as  if  he 
had  thrashed  one  of  his  backwoods  neighbors  and  carried  his 
rights  of  settlement,  title  deeds  and  claims,  within  his  fist  or 
waistcoat  pocket," — the  man  who  carries  on  a  "drawling  con- 
versation amidst  danger,  always  keeping  an  impassive  leather 
face,"  while  the  men  to  whom  he  is  speaking  are  standing  in 
water  over  their  girdles  and  exposed  to  the  bullets'  of  wild 
Acadians,  who  shoot  deer  seeking  refuge  in  a  bayou  during 
a  prairie  fire.^^  At  times,  however,  his  words  are  more  liquid, 
and  his  descriptions  and  figures  extremely  interesting  and 
vivid,  ^'^''li  ^rou  travel  on  a  flat  boat,"  he  says,  "on  a  flat  boat 
for  four  or  six  weeks,  on  the  muddiest,  sweetest,  almightiest 
of  all  waters — and  if  every  hour  sawyers,  planters,  snakes, 
wood-islands,  and  whatever  else  these  satans  may  be  called, 
are  upon  you,  and  you  fly  past  them  as  a  trotter  runs  twenty 
knots  an  hour  past  mile-stones — and  every  one  of  these  in- 
fernal mile-stones  threatens  to  bury  you  a  hundred  feet  deep 
in  the  almighty  deluge — then,  I'll  be  shot,  if  you  won't  be 
glad  to  enter  at  last  some  quiet  stream,  say  the  Arkansas  or 
the  Red  River."  These  words  need  hardly  be  supplemented 
with  those  of  the  count,  who  says :  "Our  backwoodsman  be- 
comes verbose ;  for  he  begins  to  talk  of  the  Mississippi — a 
theme  inexhaustible  for  him,  as  it  is  inexhaustible  in  itself." 
Sometimes  their  language  is^^  stern  and  relentless,  and  ac- 
companies an  arrogant  and  rough  behavior.^"  They  brag  and 
gleam  with  self-importance,  which  is  aroused,  of  course,  by 
their  self-reliance  and  the  knowledge  of  their  own  strength.'*" 

3«  Pflan-crlehcn,  pt.  II,  p.  314. 

37  Nathan,  pp.  31-32. 

38  Pflanserlehen,  pt.  II,  p.  332. 

39  Nathan,  p.   19. 

40  Cf.  Flint,  History  and  Geography,  pp.  135-136.  "The  rough, 
sturdy  and  simple  habits  of  the  backwoodsmen  living  in  that  plenty 
which  depends  only  on  God  and  nature,  being  the  preponderating  cast 
of  character  in  the  western  country,  have  laid  the  stamina  of  in- 
flependent  thought  and  feeling  deep  in  the  1)rcast  of  this  people.  A 
man  accustomed  only  to  the  fascinating,  but  hollow  intercourse  of  the 
polished  circles  of  the  Atlantic  cities,  at  first  feels  a  painful  revulsion, 
when  mingled  with  this  more  simple  race." — Cf.  Flagg's,  The  Far 
West,  Thwaites,  Early  Western  Travels,  v.  XXVII,  p.  98.  "  .  .  .  . 
Squatters,    those    sturdy   pioneers    who    formed   the    earliest   American 

152  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

Thus  Nathan  says :  *^''I  calculate  I  should  like  to  see  him 
who  should  intend  to  offend  or  injure  old  Nathan,  or  to  throw 
anything  in  his  way.  I  would  soon  cool  his  appetite  for  him, 
old  Nathan  would — as  long  as  he  has  a  rifle  and  dagger  with- 
in arm's  length." 

It  seems  that  even  the  features  of  the  women  are  often 
^^''stultified  with  that  amazing  apathy,  which  is,  I  suppose,  a 
principal  feature  in  the  character  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
backwoods."  What  wonder  if  these  w^omen  have  something 
of  apathy  in  their  character,  if  they  are  all  subjected  to  their 
masters  as  Mrs.  Strong  seems  to  be.  When  making  some 
inquiry  as  to  the  presence  of  the  two  Frenchmen  in  her  house, 
she  received  the  following  information :  '^^'Tve  a  notion,  old 
woman,  your  hair  would  not  be  a  single  item  more  gray,  if 
3/0U  should  not  load  your  brains  with  things,  which,  I  calculate, 
do  not  concern  you.  1  tell  you,  old  woman,  I  tell  you,  they 
don't  belong  here,  the  affairs  from  there ;  I  am  here  now 
about  the  things  here — am  here  now  on  behalf  of  these  two 
French  monshurs,  and  I  tell  you,  here  they  are.  It's  a  fact, 
old  woman,  they're  here.  How  and  why  is  not  the  question, 
and  nobody  has  to  trouble  himself  about  it,  but  I've  a  notion 
they  are  just  here  because  I  want  'em  to  be,  and  I  tell  you, 
they  shall  stay  here  as  long  as  they  like." 

Indicative  of  backwoods  reasoning  is  an  argument  pro- 
posing to  establish  the  fact  that  Louisiana  belongs  to  the 
United  States  just  because  its  land  is  mostly  Mississippi  mire. 
^*"You  have  often  heard,  and  yourself  saw  it,  that  this 
Louisiana  is  nothing  but  Mississippi  bottom — pure  Mississippi 
bottom' — the  settling  of  the  river-mire  of  the  Mississippi — 
and  that  this  mire  comes  from  our  country?"    "That  I  know," 

settlements  along  our  western  frontier.  And  in  my  casual  acquaint- 
ance with  them  I  have  remarked  with  not  a  little  surprise,  a  decision 
of  character,  an  acuteness  of  penetration,  and  a  depth  and  originality 
of   thought  betrayed  in  their  observations." 

41  Nathan,  p.  25. 

42  Nathan,  p.  165. 

43  Ibid.,  pp.  168-169. 

44  Ibid.,  pp.  73-74. 

153  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

says  Asa.  "And  that  Louisiana  is  composed  of  this  river- 
mire — of  our  mire,  man — American  mire ;  to  which  neither 
Frenchmen  nor  Spaniards  have  a  straw's  worth  of  claim." 
"That's  true,"  says  Asa,  "I've  a  notion  they  have  not."  "Well, 
man,  if  the  powerful,  muddy  Mississippi  takes  away  the  land 
that  is  above,  just  like  the  bear  which  swallows  the  pig,  and 
iheir  land  becomes  so  thick  and  dirty  that  he  throws  out  the 
slime  again,  as  the  bear  vomits  out  all  that  is  bad  and  dirty, 
to  whom  does  this  refuse  belong?  Asa,  tell  me  that — tell  me, 
to  whom  else  than  the  owner  of  the  bear? — and  the  bear, 
does  not  he  belong  to  the  man  on  whose  land  he  is  found  ^ 
Tell  me  this,  Asa?"  says  I,  "and  so  does  not  the  bear,  or 
Mississippi,  belong  to  us?"  "That's  all  right,  so  say  I,  too," 
says  Asa,  "and  I'd  like  to  see  the  man  who  would  say  other- 
wise. I  would  poke  my  five  knuckles  into  his  side  so  that  he 
would  soon  sing  another  tune." 

Poor  man!  thus  he  reasoned  and  labored  to  make  his 
colony  the  embryo  of  a  state  which  should  later  be  attached 
to  the  Union.  In  1803,  when  his  wish  was  realized,  American 
surveyors  and  Yankee  land  speculators  came  and  measured  off 
his  land,  which  according  to  squatter  law,  he  could  buy  with 
a  large  acreage  surrounding  it.*^  But  this  was  too  much  for 
him — he,  who  had  fought  for  the  land  and  settled  manv 
hundreds  of  people,  and  ruled  on  the  land  as  a  squatter 
regulator,  making  and  enforcing  his  own  laws,  should 
now  pay  for  what  he  had  considered  his  for  over  ten 
years,  submit  to  a  strange  code  of  laws  and  have  a  sheriflF 
watching  him !  This  he  could  not  endure,  and  so  he  left  for 
Texas  with  twenty  families.  And  when  in  1811,  Compfe  dc 
Vignerolles  made  a  trip  into  Texas,  he  came  to  an  American 
colony,  about  five  hundred  miles  from  the  former.  It  was 
Nathan's  settlement.  *^"He  was  regulator  again — again  had 
a  blockhouse,  which  might  more  properly  be  called  a  fort,  and 
had  finally  found  peace  away  from  all  land  speculators, 
sheriffs  and  land   offices.     And   there  he  lives,   as  regulator, 

4-"'  Atan-yat,  F.,  Diary,  ser.  I,  v.  TT,  p.  75. 
40  Naihan,  pp.  407-408. 

154  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

president,  governor — in  short,  chief  of  nearly  a  thousand 
squatters.  To  the  East  of  his  plantation,  a  certain  Colonel 
Austin  had  founded  a  second  colony ;  but  the  great  nerve  of 
the  growing  state  was  the  colony  of  which  Nathan  was  the 
chief."^^ 

At  the  age  of  eighty,  in  the  year  1828,  he  comes  to 
Louisiana  once  more,  to  visit  the  count  and  his  former  neijjh- 
bors.  After  he  has  retired  one  evening,  the  author  bids  him 
goodnight  with  the  following  words:  *^"Sweet  be  thy  repose, 
venerable  patriarch !  Manfully  hast  thou  battled  with  the 
storms  of  time,  and  nobly  triumphed.  His  cold  fingers  have 
frosted  thy  locks.  Thou,  who  hast  preserved  the  divine 
spark,  who  hast  understood  how  to  ennoble  thy  humble 
sphere — sweet  be  thy  repose  !" 

As  regulator*^  of  the  colony,  Nathan  was  entrusted  with 
the  preservation  of  order  and  the  administration  of  justice. 
Whenever  he  found  it  necessary  to  call  a  meeting,  he  blew 
a  big  conch-shell,  which  assembled  all  male  inhabitants  in  the 
public  hall,  where  they  waited  for  their  regulator  to  open 
tlie  discussion.  '^""Grotesque  and  singular  as  the  manners  of 
the  squatters  appeared,  there  was  something  so  dignified,  so 
republican,  reflecting,  such  a  calm  self-esteem,"  that  one  could 
not  help  be  interested  in  the  proceedings. 

In  these  meetings  the  settlers  proposed  and  discussed 
means  to  further  the  community  welfare,  such  as  the  buildin,^ 
of  cotton  gins,  saw  mills,  and  roads,  which  were  all  built  and 
maintained  by  the  colony.  Concerted  activity  made  it  pos- 
sible to  lay  a  cause-way  to  the  Red  River,  which  for  one 
hundred  and  twenty  families  was  a  tremendous  piece  of  work, 

■*"  Parker,  Amo?  A.,  Trip  to  the  West  and  Texas,  mentions  thirteen 
land  grants  in  Texas  in  1835. 

•i'^  Nathan,  p.  420. 

4^  Webster  gives  the  following;'  definition  :  "R.  in  the  I'nited 
vStates  a  member  of  any  of  various  bands  or  volunteer  committees 
formed  in  newly  occupied  or  settled  regions  before  the  establishment 
of  local  government,  to  preserve  order,  prevent  crime,  and  administer 
justice." 

•'^o  Nathan,  p.  225,  ibid.,  p.  336. 

155  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

especially  since  the  road  led  through  swamps,  and,  therefore, 
had  to  be  partly  corduroyed.  The  community  government 
provided  also  for  a  school,  and  cared  for  the  education  of 
the  little  ones.  (On  the  other  hand,  the  introduction  of 
slaves  certainly  does  not  speak  in  the  colony's  favor  as  to  the 
moral  elevation  of  its  settlers). 

Since  the  community  did  not  believe  itself  subjected  to 
Spanish  jurisprudence,  they  tried  their  cases  themselves.  The 
punishment  consisted  usually  of  a  flogging  (the  customary 
thirty-nine  lashes),  and  a  tarring  and  feathering,  or  both. 
^^Yet,  a  difficulty  arose  whenever  the  delinquents  were  not  of 
the  colony.  In  such  cases  hot  debates  ensued,  for  the  majority 
realized  that,  although  they  had  a  right  to  punish  an  Acadian 
hog  thief,  who  was  caught  with  his  booty,  they  did  not  have 
the  same  authority  to  inflict  punishment  on  a  syndic,  a 
Spanish  official,  who  was  implicated  in  an  embezzlement. 
^^"It  was  no  easy  matter,"  says  Nathan,  "to  keep  ourselves 
clear  of  these  people,  who  first  came  crawling  round  us, 
flattering  and  mewing  like  cats — and  then,  seeing  us  above 
such  things,  began  to  snarl  at  us  like  puppy-dogs.  It  was  no 
easy  matter  to  keep  clear  of  these  impudent,  ignorant  scamps 
— these  half-savages,  who  have  just  about  as  much  notion  of 
the  right  of  property  as  the  ebony  niggers." 

Even  more  interesting  are  the  discussions  concerning  the 
relation  of  the  colony  to  the  United  States.  George  Nollins, 
the  assistant  regulator  opens  the  argument  with  the  following 
words :  •'^^"It  is  true,  Mr.  Strong  and  his  friends  have  de- 
fended themselves,  six  against  eighty-five,  and  maintained 
their  rights,  I  reckon,  because  they  were  on  legal  ground,  on 
the  principle  of  independence  of  persons  and  property.  They 
would  not  deprive  the  Spaniards  of  anything;  neither  would 
they  suffer  themselves  to  be   deprived.     But,   I   reckon,  had 

51  The  doctrine  that  the  squatters  or  actual  residents  of  a  ter- 
ritory had  the  rig-ht  to  make  their  own  laws,  is  termed  squatter 
sovereignty. 

•">2  Nathan,  p.  247. 

«^3  Ihid.,  p.  236. 

156  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

we  taken  anything  of  the  Spaniards,  and  estabhshed  in  their 
land  a  county,  with  sheriffs,  constables,  and  judges,  and  the 
laws  of  the  States,  it  would  have  been  displaying  the  flag  of 
the  States  on  a  Spanish  vessel,  of  which  we  had  scarce  van- 
quished the  jolly-boat;  and  it  would  have  been  the  first  step 
to  perpetual  hostilities,  and  a  downright  insult  to  the  whole 
Spanish  power."  We  see  that  '^^"they  were  treating  of  noth- 
ing less  than  the  introduction  of  the  United  States  form  of 
government  into  the  Spanish  province," — and  they  realized 
ihe  difficulty  they  would  encounter,  and,  therefore,  went 
about  it  with  great  deliberation.  But  it  seems  that  the 
States  must  have  known  ^^"that  an  aspiring  party  in  the  com- 
munity was  laboring  to  effect  a  separation  of  Louisiana  from 
Spain,"  and,  therefore,  **The  American  government  had  sent 
an  agent  (Major  Gale  from  Tennessee)  for  the  purpose  of 
molding  the  embryo  republic  to  their  interests."  He  con- 
gratulates the  regulators  on  the  prudence  and  moderation 
with  which  they  acted  in  so  ^^"difficult  and  trying  a  case,  and 
protected  the  property  of  American  citizens  without  offending 
a  foreign  government." 

The  economic  value  of  the  possession  of  Louisiana  is 
stressed  in  the  following  passage :  ^^"Do  you  think  they  will 
let  this  noble  stream  (Mississippi)  be  closed  and  barricaded 
by  your  lazy  custom-house  officers,  and  thus  let  their  flour  be 
soured,  their  hams  be  destroyed  by  worms,  and  leave  the  key 
of  the  whole  country  in  your  hands?" — But  more  beautiful 
are  the  words  of  Nathan  when  he  speaks  of  the  destiny  of 
Louisiana :  ^^''Have  you  ever  noticed  the  seed-corn,  when 
planted  in  the  fertile  earth?  Never  seen,  how,  when  sunk 
several  inches  deep  into  the  ground,  it  is  covered  with  a  clod, 
which,  a  hundred  times  heavier  than  that  little  seed-corn, 
might  seem  to  crush  it  to  atoms?     But  does  it  do  so?     No' 

54  Ibid.,  p.  237. 

55  Ibid.,  p.  242. 

56  Nathan^  p.  260. 

57  Ibid.,  pp.  292-293. 

58  Ibid.,  pp.  294-296. 

157  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

the  little  thing  easily  sprouts  up,  and  shoots  forth  to  the  day- 
light, triumphant  over  the  dead,  heavy  clod.  Have  you  never 
seen  this?  I  will  tell  you:  we  are  the  little  seed-corn — 
Louisiana  the  fertile  earth — and  the  Spanish  government  that 
dead-clod  weight,  pressing  on  the  sprouting  seed,  the  growth 
of  which  it  would  like  to  stop  if  it  could.  But  it  can't;  there 
are  too  many  strong  leaves,  and  these  leaves  will  pry  away 
3'Our  dead-clod — the  weight  of  your  government — as  lightly, 
you  know  not  how  lightly,  and  Louisiana  will  sprout  up,  and 
grow,  and  flourish,  and  we  with  it." — And  finally  Louisiana 
was  joined  to  the  Union,  "a  destiny  for  which  Heaven  has 
intended  it." 

SQUIRE  COPELAND  AND  THE  ALCALDE. 

Sealsfield  remarked  in  his  footnote  to  the  word  "squatter" 
that  some  of  these  pioneer  settlers  remain  in  the  wilderness 
as  squatters  while  others  return  into  civilized  society.  '^^The 
latter  is  true  of  John  Copeland.  We  make  his  acquaintance 
at  the  very  beginning  of  Der  Legitime,  where  we  find  him 
amongst  the  Oconee  Indians,  in  southern  Georgia.  Here  he 
had  opened  a  border  tavern,  ofifering  "entertainment  For  man 
And  beast  (sic!)."  But  in  reality  he  was  no  more  then  one 
of  those  contemptible  fur-traders,  who  exchanged  brandy  and 
gin  for  precious  beavers.  When  he  had  thus  become  rich,  he 
sought  a  more  comfortable  place  to  live  than  the  wilds  in- 
habited by  red  skins.®"  With  a  large  family  of  children  he 
went  to  Louisiana  and  settled  in  Opelousas,  where  we  find 
him  after  a  number  of  years  as  a  squire,  esteemed  and  hon- 
ored, wealthy  and  influential,  somewhat  polished,  but  still 
showing  the  rough  edges  of  a  backwoodsman.  ''^"The  seven 
vcars  during  which  we  had  not  seen  him,  have  caused  an  ad- 
vantageous change.  A  rough,  selfish  manner,  which  in 
former  times  had  found  expression  in  every  word,  had,  on 
account   of   increased   wealth,   made   room   for   some   human 

'■^•^  Supra,  p.  143,  footnote  14. 
^  Der  Legitime,  pt.  I,  p.  50. 
61  Ibid.,  pt.  II,  pp.  192-193 

158  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

comforts,  which,  it  must  be  admitted,  still  showed  backwoods 
traits,  and  which  just  for  that  reason,  appealed  so  much  to 
us.  It  was,  so  to  speak,  the  aged  nature  of  a  backwoodsman, 
which  had  assumed  an  especial  kind  of  civilization  through 
wealth,  contact  with  others,  and  experience.  He  felt  fully  hi^ 
own  importance,  but  was,  nevertheless,  not  the  least  insulting 
to  others.  He  had  nothing  of  the  air  of  the  arrogant  butler, 
or  the  tradesman  or  merchant  who  has  attained  wealth.  It 
was  the  hearty  and  resolute  bluntness  of  a  man,  who  had  at- 
tained his  importance  through  hard  work,  and  who  had 
earned  the  high  esteem  of  his  fellow  citizens  through  his 
activity  for  public  weal,  who  thought  always  first  of  the  wel- 
fare of  his  county,  and  who  would  have  sacrificed  all  for  his 
state  and  his  country.  It  is  true,  at  times  he  was  somewhat 
boastful,  but  he  never  aroused  antipathy,  because  everything 
in  him  was  natural,  and  had,  so  to  speak,  grown  out  of  the 
soil  of  his  country." 

Nathan  was  a  squatter  regulator  on  the  Red  River ;  John 
Copeland,  a  squire  in  Opelousas,  Louisiana,  and  the  Alcalde, 
one  might  say,  was  both.  He  lived  in  the  present  state  of 
Texas,  presiding  as  judge  over  many  American  settlers,  who, 
although  they  had  obtained  their  land  from  Mexico,  and  were 
subjected  to  Mexican  jurisdiction,  (or  rather  to  the  whims 
and  intrigues  of  an  arrogant  priesthood)  tried  their  own  cases. 
Had  they  not  administered  justice,  many  a  criminal  would 
have  obtained  pardon  from  Mexico  under  the  condition  thnt 
he  become  a  Catholic,  and  would  thereby  have  become 
a  renegade  to  the  great  cause — the  striving  to  tear  themselves 
loose  from  Mexico  and  to  prepare  the  country  and  its  in- 
stitutions for  an  annexation  to  the  States.  Thus  the  man,  who 
thinks  so  little  of  the  Atlantic  cities  and  their  politics,  and 
who  puts  so  much  more  hope  into  the  future  of  the  West,^^  is 
playing  just  as  important  a  role  as  Nathan. 

«-  Kajutenhitch,  pt.  I,  p.  191. 


159 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

THE  TRAPPER  AND  DESPERADO. 

Before  entering  upon  a  more  detailed  description  of 
frontier  life  as  pictured  in  the  Cabin  Book,  we  shall  become 
acquainted  with  another  type  of  border  inhabitant,  which 
stands  just  as  unique  in  the  history  of  civilization  as  the 
squatter.  Since  we  are,  of  course,  unable  to  give  a  better 
picture  of  this  type  than  the  author,  and  since  dissection  and 
elaboration  would  only  impair  his  description,  we  shall  quote 
in  full : 

^^"There  is  something  peculiar  in  these  boundless  prairies, 
that  exalts  the  spirit,  rendering  it,  we  might  say,  as  well  as 
the  body,  energetic  and  firm.^*  There  are  to  be  found  the 
wild  horse,  the  bison,  the  wolf,  the  bear,  and  innumerable 
serpents,  and  the  trapper  excelling  all  in  wildness — not  the 
old  trapper  of  Cooper,  who  never  saw  a  trapper  in  his  life^^ — 
but  the  real  one,  who  could  furnish  matter  for  novels,  which 
would  inspire  with  wild  enthusiasm  even  the  most  phlegmatic. 

"Our  civilization,  the  noblest  the  world  has  ever  seen, 
has  nevertheless  borne  its  own  monsters,  of  which  other 
civilized  countries  know  nothing,  and  which  can  grow  up  only 
in  a  land  where  freedom  is  unlimited.  The  trappers  are 
generally  outcasts  or  outlaws,  who  have  escaped  the  arm  of 
the  law,  or  those  intractable  minds,  to  whom  the  rational 
liberty,  even  of  the  United  States,  seems  a  constraint.  Perhaps 
it  is  a  fortunate  circumstance  for  these  States  to  be  in  pos- 
session of  such  a  fag-end,  where  the  passions  of  such  persons 
may  fret  away  their  fury  in  wrestling  with  nature,  because  in 
the  lap  of  well-regulated  society  they  would  probably  cause 
terrible  disturbances  .... 

63  George  Howard,  pp.  196-205.  The  whole  passage  is  translated 
in  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  ser.  I,  v.  18  (1835)  where  it  follows  a 
paragraph  of  general  discussion,  in  which  the  author  summons  us  to 
compare  Sealsfield's  passage  with  the  "fantastic  pictures"    of    Cooper. 

64  Concerning  the  invigorating  life  in  these  prairies,  see  Darby, 
Louisiana,  p.  36ff. 

65  Cooper  wrote  The  Prairie,  which  has  as  the  principal  character 
a  trapper,  without  ever  having  seen  a  prairie. 

160  


NATIONAI,  TYPES 

'^^"These  trappers  and  hunters  ^^  are  to  be  found  from  the 
sources  of  the  Columbia  and  Missouri  Rivers  down  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Arkansas  and  Red  River,  by  all  the  right 
tributary  streams  of  the  Mississippi,  which,  as  is  well  known, 
rise  generally  in  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Their  existence 
depends  chiefly  upon  the  extirpation  of  animals,  which  for 
centuries  have  crowded  on  these  flowering  plains.  They  kill 
the  wild  buffalo  in  order  to  make  use  of  his  hide  for  clothing, 
and  his  haunches  for  their  meals, — the  bears,  to  sleep  on  their 
skins,  and  the  wolves  to  amuse  themselves ;  and  they  catch 
and  slay  the  beavers  for  the  sake  of  their  furs,  and  occasion- 
ally for  their  tails. ^^  For  these  they  receive  in  exchange 
powder,  lead,  flannel  jackets,  shirts  and  yarn  for  their  nets, 
and  whiskey  to  keep  their  bodies  warm  in  the  cold  days  of 
winter. 

''They  often  move  about  on  the  plaines  in  droves  of  a 
hundred  or  more  together,  and  wage  desperate  conflicts  with 
the  Indians ;  but  generally  eight  or  ten  live  together,  united 
for  common  defense  and  common  labor — like  wild  gorillas. 
Yet  these  are  more  hunters  than  trappers ;  the  real  trapper 
lives  generally  only  in  company  with  one  sworn  friend,^^  with 
whom  he  for  a  year  or  often  many  years,  divides  every  toil, 
every  amusement,  and  every  danger.  Should  one  of  the 
comrades  die,  then  the  other  is  the  sole  heir  of  the  hide,  and 
the  secrets  of  the  places  where  the  game  is  to  be  found. 

"What  fear  of  punishment  in  many  cases  effected  at 
first,  becomes  soon  an  absolute  necessity;  and  unruled,  bound- 
less liberty  is  an  enjoyment  which  few  of  them  would  re- 
nounce if  they  were  even  promised  the  most  honorable  and 
lucrative  places  in  regulated  society.  Such  are  the  men,  who, 
for  years  live  on  the  plains,  the  savannas,  and  the  meadows. 

^j<^5  Beginning  here  the  passage  is  translated  in  Saint-Rene  Tai- 
landier,  Le  Romancier  de  la  democratic  amSricaine. 

67  Cf.  Peck's  Guide  to  the  M/est,  pp.  126-128. 

68  McKenny,  in  his  Tour  to  the  Lakes,  speaks  of  the  "exquisite 
preparation  of  beaver's  tail,  that  nice  morsel  which  could  not  even  be 
dispensed  with  in  Lent." 

69  Cf.  Hall's  Sketches  of  the  West,  p.  226. 

161  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

and  in  the  forests  of  the  Arkansas,  Missouri,  and  Oregon 
territories,  which  conceal  in  their  midst  enormous  deserts  of 
sand  and  stone,  and  withall  the  most  beautiful  prairies. 
Snow  and  frost,  warmth  and  cold,  rain  and  storms,  and 
privations  of  every  kind,  have  so  hardened  their  limbs,  made 
their  skin  so  thick,  like  that  of  the  buffalo  which  they  hunt, 
that  the  perpetual  necessity  in  which  they  live  of  relying  upon 
their  bodily  strength,  breeds  in  them  a  self-confidence  that 
shrinks  from  no  danger;  a  sharpness  of  sight  and  a  correct- 
ness of  judgment,  of  which  man  in  civilized  society  can  form 
no  just  idea.  Fatigue,  privations  and  toils  are  often  terrible, 
and  we  have  seen  trappers  who  have  undergone  sufferings  in 
comparison  with  which  the  fabulous  adventures  of  Robinson 
Crusoe  are  mere  children's  play,  and  whose  skin  was  as  thick 
as  leather,  bearing  more  resemblance  to  the  tanned  hide  of 
the  buffalo  than  to  that  of  a  human  being.  Only  lead  or  steel 
could  penetrate  it.  These  trappers  are  wonderful  psycho- 
logical phenomena;  thrown  into  wild,  boundless  nature,  their 
reason  often  developed  itself  in  a  manner  so  ingenious — nay, 
grand,  that  among  some  I  have  observed  a  genius  which  would 
have  done  honor  to  the  greatest  philosopher  of  ancient  or 
modern  times. 

"Daily,  nay  hourly,  dangers,  one  would  suppose,  must 
elevate  the  minds  of  these  wild  men  to  the  most  High ;  but 
it  is  not  so.  Their  hunting  knife  is  their  god;  their  rifle  is  their 
patron  saint,  and  their  hardy  feet  are  their  only  trust.  The 
trapper  hates  mankind ;  and  the  look  with  which  he  measures 
the  man  he  chances  to  meet  in  the  wilderness,  is  not  so  often 
that  of  a  friendly  white  brother,  as  that  of  a  blood-thirsty 
enemy;  for  here,  as  in  civilized  society,  avarice  is  a  mighty 
incitement  to  bloody  deeds,  and  generally  one  of  two  trapper-: 
who  chance  to  meet,  has  to  fall  by  the  other's  hand.  He 
hates  his  white  rival  much  more,  on  account  of  the  valuable 
beaver  skins,  than  he  hates  an  Indian — the  latter  he  shoots 
down  as  coldly  as  he  would  kill  a  wolf,  buffalo  or  bear;  but 
the  former  he  stabs  with  a  real  fiendish  joy,  as  if  he  felt 
that  he  had  delivered   society   from  a  great   fellow-criminal, 

162  


NATIONAL  TYPEvS 

The  fact  that  for  years  he  lives  on  the  strongest  possible  food, 
the  meat  of  the  bison,  and  without  bread  or  anything  else, 
contributes  much  to  his  inhuman  wildness — as  in  a  measure  it 
changes  him  into  a  beast  of  prey. 

"On  an  expedition  which  we  undertook  in  company  with 
several  acquaintances,  along  the  upper  Red  River,  we  met  sev- 
eral of  these  trappers ;  among  others,  an  old  fellow,  so  thor- 
oughly tanned  and  hardened  by  storm,  privation  and  tempests, 
ihat  his  skin  resembled  more  the  shell  of  a  turtle  than  the 
cuticle  of  a  man.  We  had  hunted  for  two  days  in  his  com- 
pany, without  observing  anything  remarkable  in  him ;  he  pre- 
pared our  meals,  which  consisted  at  one  time  of  a  saddle  of 
venison,  at  another,  of  a  haunch  of  buffalo;  he  knew  the  cover 
and  the  course  of  game,  and  scented  it  nearly  as  well  as  the 
huge  v/olf  hoimd  which  never  left  his  side.  Only  the  third 
morning  we  observed  something  which  startled  our  confidence 
in  our  new  companion.  It  was  a  mass  of  strokes  and  crosses 
upon  the  stock  of  his  gun  which  gave  us  the  first  key  to  the 
real  character  of  the  man.  These  strokes  and  crosses  were 
arranged  somewhat  like  the  following: 

"Buffaloes — No  number  given,  as  the  amount  was  prob- 
ably too  large. 

"Bears,  19 — These  were  marked  with  single  strokes. 

"Wolves,   13 — With  double  strokes. 

"Red  Interlopers,  4 — Marked  with  four  cross  strokes. 

"White  Interlopers,  2 — With  little  crosses. 

"As  our  companion  was  closely  examining  the  stock, 
endeavoring  to  discover  the  meaning  of  the  word  "Interloper," 
the  grin  which  overspread  the  old  fellovv's  features,  attracted 
our  attention.  Without,  however,  uttering  a  word,  he  at- 
tacked the  haunch  of  buffalo  which  he  produced  from  the  skin 
in  which  it  had  been  enveloped,  and  now  lay  before  us.  It 
was  a  meal  fit  for  a  king,  and  it  made  us  forget  all  our 
scruples.  Suddenly  he  said  with  a  suspicious  smile,  drawing 
his  knife  towards  himself: 

_ 163  — - 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

"  'Look  ye,  it's  my  pocketbook;  d'ye  think  it  a  sin  to  kill 
one  of  these  two-legged  red  or  white  interlopipers  (sic!)  ? 

"  'Who  do  you  mean  ?',  we  asked. 

"The  man  smiled  again,  and  rose ;  we  now  knew  who 
those  two-legged  interlopers  were  whom  he  had  marked  on 
his  shaft,  with  as  much  sang  froid  as  if  they  had  been  wild 
turkeys  instead  of  human  beings,  whom  he  had  shot. 

"We  did  not  feel  called  upon  or  empowered  to  stand  up 
as  judges  at  a  place  to  which  civilized  society  and  its  avenging 
arm  does  not  reach,  and  said  no  more  to  the  man. 

"These  trappers,  however,  once  in  several  years,  return 
for  a  few  weeks  to  the  abodes  of  civilized  society,  when  they 
have  a  large  quantity  of  beaver  skins.  Usually  they  cut  down 
a  hollow  tree  near  or  at  the  shore  of  a  navigable  stream, 
pack  it  with  their  skins  and  other  property,  and  then  float 
down  for  thousands  of  miles  on  the  Missouri,  or  Kansas  or 
Red  River,  to  St.  Louis,  Natchidoches,  or  Alexandria,  where, 
clad  in  skins,  they  stare  about  the  streets,  -presenting  a  siglit 
which  often  transports  the  beholder's  mind  to  a  primitive 
world." 

Sealsfield's  interest  in  the  border  regions,  and  in  the 
people  who  inhabit  them  was  so  great  that  he  dwells  especially 
long  on  descriptions  of  the  prairie  and  savannas  which  harbor 
all  sorts  of  dangerous  characters,  who  chose  these  solitudes 
in  preference  to  the  gallows.  He  likens  our  country  to  wine 
which  emits  its  impurities  by  the  bung  hole.  "^^''The  dregs, 
repelled  by  civilized  society,  collect  naturally  near  the  boun- 
daries of  civilization,  in  the  West,  where  the  law  is  still  weak. 
Indeed  things  frequently  look  terrible  along  these  boundaries 
— a  real  scum  it  to  be  found  there — ^gamblers,  murderers,  and 
thieves,  among  whom  a  respectable  man's  life  is  not  safe.'^ 
But  these  last  only  a  short  time;  better  ones  follow,  and  the 

70  Ralph  Doughby,  pp.  234-235. 

■^1  A  good  sketch  of  this  desperado  element  may  be  found  in  Hall, 
James,  Sketches  of  the  West,  pp.  86-87,  who  says:  "A  frontier  is 
often  the  retreat  of  loose  individuals,  who,  if  not  familiar  with  crime, 
have  very  blunt  perceptions  of  virtue.  The  genuine  woodsman,  the 
real  pioneer,  are  independent,  brave,  and  upright;  but  as  the  jackal 
pursues  the  lion  to   devour  his  leavings,   the   footsteps  of  the   sturdy 

164  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

rabble  retreat  farther,  before  approaching  culture  and  civiliza- 
tion, and  before  the  laws  which  grow  too  strong  for  them. 
But  their  doings  have  not  been  worthless.  Against  their  v/ill, 
they  have  been  forced  by  want  and  need  to  clear  forests, 
make  paths  through  the  pathless  wilderness,  and  till  the  earth 
for  better  successors.'^-  •  With  such  wild,  desperate  characters, 
originated  the  paradisian  hills  and  valleys  of  Kentucky,  the 
excellent  farms  of  Ohio,  and  the  magnificent  meadows  of 
Tennessee.  They  have  gone  many  thousands  of  miles — their 
works  have  remained.  They  have  become  the  foundation  of 
the  happiness  of  millions  of  free,  civilized,  and  religious  cit- 
izens, who  pray  to  the  God  of  their  fathers  in  thousands  and 
thousands  of  temples,  in  places  where  formerly  only  the  wild 
Indian  hunted." 

The  Cabin  Book,  in  which  two  such  characters.  Bob 
Rock,  and  Johnny,  a  tavern  keeper,  appear,  makes  us  ac- 
quainted with  the  inner  life  of  this  type.  Through  the  Al- 
calde, who  has  been  a  father  and  adviser  to  Bob  Rock,  and 
to  whom  the  latter  has  often  poured  out  his  heart,  we  find 
out  how  some  of  these  individuals  are  driven  about  restlessly 
and  despairingly  by  their  own  conscience,  until  they  finally 
have  a  longing  for  the  rope  as  the  only  relief  from  pangs  and 
apparitions.  But  the  Alcalde  wants  to  save  Bob  Rock  until  he 
is  needed  in  the  revolution  against  Mexico,  where  he  shall 
atone  for  all  his  crimes,  by  raging  amongst  the  enemy  like  a 

hunters  are  closely  pursued  by  miscreants  destitute  of  his  noble  qual- 
ities. These  are  the  poorest  and  idlest  of  the  human  race,  averse  to 
labor  and  impatient  of  the  restraints  of  law  and  the  courtesies  of 
civilized  society.  Without  the  ardor,  the  activity,  the  love  of  sport,  and 
patience  of  fatigue,  which  distinguish  the  bold  backwoods  man,  these 
are  doomed  to  the  forest  by  sheer  laziness,  and  not  for  a  bare  sub- 
sistence ;  they  are  'the  cankers  of  a  calm  world  and  a  long  peace',  the 
helpless  nobodies,  who,  in  a  country  where  none  starve  and  few  beg, 
sleep  until  hunger  pinches,  then  stroll  into  the  woods  for  a  meal,  and 
return  again  to  their  slumbers. — ^A  still  worse  class  also  infested  our 
borders — ^desperadoes  fleeing  from  justice,  suspected  or  convicted  felons 
escaped  from  the  grasp  of  the  laws,  who  sought  safety  in  the  depth 
of  the  forest,  or  in  the  infancy  of  civil  regulations.  "The  horse  thief, 
the  counterfeiter,  and  the  robber,  found  here  a  secure  retreat,  or  a  new 
theatre  for  the  perpetration  of  crime." — Cf.  Robb,  John  S.,  Squatter 
Life,  pp.  VIII-IX. 

^2  Cf.  Kajiitenbuch,  pt.  I,  pp.  227-228. 
165  


CHARlvES  SEALSFIELD 

hell-fiend,  and  thus  help  in  the  struggle  for  liberty.'^^  The 
prairies  of  the  province  of  Texas  must  have  been  a  rendezvous 
for  criminals  from  all  over  the  states.  The  life  they  lived 
here  was,  according  to  Sealsfield,  a  solitary  and  miserable  one. 
'""I  tell  you,"  says  the  Alcalde,  "the  criminal  and  the  murderer 
is  here  as  free  as  you  and  1 ;  none  goes  too  near  him ;  and 
yet  I  know  from  experience  he  would  often  willingly  give  up 
this  freedom  to  be  with  his  fellows  in  a  State  prison,  for  this 
freedom  is  to  him  a  horrible  freedom.  There  is  nothing  more 
dreadful  to  the  criminal  than  this  freedom  in  the  prairie. 
Would,  I  assure  you,  exchange  it  joyfully  for  a  prison;  for 
there  he  is  amongst  his  fellows,  not  outlawed,  not  thrust  out ; 
feels  easier  even  in  his  solitary  cell,  for  he  knows  that  he  is 
imder  the  same  roof  with  them ;  but  here,  he  is  not  amongst 
his  fellows,  everybody  avoides  him ;  even  the  murderer  flees 
him ;  murderers  do  not  like  to  meet  together,  even  by  the  rum 
bottle.  Are  always  in  their  own  company,  an  awful  company 
it  must  be,  that  self-company- — a  bad  conscience,  which,  like 
a  treadmill,  drives  him  about  without  peace,  without  rest — 
losses  him  about  for  ever  and  ever ;  for  mark,  he  stands  there 
in  the  pure  spotless  creation,  in  the  clear,  rich  prairie,  with 
God's  linger  menacingly  pointing  at  him  from  heaven  and 
earth  and  all  his  mighty  w^orks — stands  there  with  his  foul 
murder  taint,  which  the  pure  breath  of  God  continually  sends 
back  into  his  nostrils.  I  tell  you  a  murderer  here  is  really  not 
to  be  envied  for  his  liberty." 

"^•^  Cf.  Klirenbcrg,  H.,  Pahrtrn  und  Schicksalc  ciiics  Dcntschcn  in 
Texas,  pp.  22-23.  "What  right  have  the  States  to  load  upon  us  these 
thieves,  vagabonds?  Who  gives  this  gang  of  robbers  permission  to 
infect  our  prairies  vvith  their  presence,  especially  since  Mexico  bas 
never  neglected  to  take  care  tbat  a  complete  assortment  of  this  article 
be  always  present  in  the  despised  province  of  Texas— but  times  will 
cbange — soon,  very  soon,  they  sball  have  to  march  over  the  Rio 
Grande  or  to  him  in  bell ;  they  must  be  gone,  and  the  province  sball 
not  have  a  single  one  in  a  couple  of  years.  They  must  run,  fight,  or 
hang,  as  they  choose;  we  don't  want  a  land  infested  witb  such  "birds," 
and  along  with  our  liberty  severe  justice  must  begin  ....  After 
victory  has  been  won,  we'll  not  care  a  straw  about  v.ho  has  ac- 
complished tbe  feat."  Ehrenbcrg  was  probably  acquainted  witb  tbc 
Cabin  Book,  whicb  appeared  four  years  previous  to  his  novel. 

74  Kajiitcubnch,  pt.  I,  pp.  228-230. 

IGG  


Chapter  IV. 

THE  FRENCH  ELEMENT  AND  THE  AMERICAN 

PLANTER  IN  LOUISIANA. 

In  the  preceding  pages  the  frontiersman  as  Sealsfield 
saw  him  during  his  travels  and  his  residence  in  Louisiana, 
has  been  described.  This  state  was  populated  by  a  motley 
crowd,  descendants  of  many  nations,  and  representing  various 
types.  The  prairie  and  savannas  in  the  Northwest  were  in- 
habited by  hunters,  trappers,  and  individuals  of  doubtful 
character,  the  central  regions  by  rangers  and  backwoods 
farmers,  most  of  whom  had  come  from  Kentucky  and  were 
largely  of  Scotch-Irish  descent — and  finally,  the  southwestern 
part  was  settled  by  Frenchmen,  Acadians,  and  a  few  Germans. 
Interspersed  with  these  elements  we  find  the  American 
])lanter  who  has  come  here  from  the  East,  and,  although  sur- 
rounded by  the  same  environment,  lived  a  life  very  different 
from  that  of  his  Creole  neighbor.  Concerning  the  south- 
western regions,  Sealsfield  says:  ^'AVith  the  exception  of  a 
number  of  respectable  Americans,  Louisiana  and  the  valley 
of  the  Mississippi  have  hitherto  been  the  refuge  of  all  classes 
of  foreigners,-  good  and  bad,  who  sought  here  an  asylum 
from  oppression  and  poverty,  or  from  the  avenging  arm  of 
justice  in  their  native  countries.^  Many  have  not  succeeded 
in   their  expectation — many  have   died — others   returned,   ex- 

'   The  Americans,  p.  213. 

2  Cf.  Cox,  I.  J.,  Exploration  of  the  Louisiana  frontier,  p.  157, 
speaking  of  the  lower  part  of  the  Red  River,  sa3-s  :  a  "greater  part  con- 
sisted of  Canadian-French  'of  few  wants  and  as  little  industry'.  There 
were  a  number  of  Spanish  and  French  Creole  families  apparently  of 
the  same  general  character  as  the  Acadians,  but  interspersed  with  them 
were  a  few  of  a  higher  order  of  industry  and  intelligence.  Mingled 
with  the  element  surviving  from  the  previous  regimes  were  a  few 
Germans,  Irish  and  American  settlers  of  the  frontier  type." 

3  Cf.  Der  Legitime,  pt.  II,  p.   159. 

—   1G7  — 


chari.es  sealsfield 

asperated  against  a  country  which  has  disappointed  their 
hopes,  because  they  expected  to  find  stiperior  beings,  and  dis- 
covered that  they  were  men  neither  worse  nor  better  than 
their  habits,  propensities,  country,  cUmate  and  a  thousand 
other  circumstances  had  made  them."  Especially  after  the 
purchase  of  the  territory,  ^''crowds  of  needy  Yankees,  and 
what  is  worse,  Kentuckians,  spread  all  over  the  country,  at- 
tracted by  the  hope  of  gain,  the  latter  treating  the  inhabitants 
as  little  better  than  a  purchased  property."  They  were  full 
of  prejudice  against  the  Creoles,  who  were  mostly  descendants 
of  a  nation  of  which  they  knew  little  more  than  the  proverbial 
"French  dog."^  This  heterogeneous  population,  so  different 
in  language,  manners,  and  principles,  had  only  one  character- 
istic in  common — love  for  money,^ — money,  which  the  Ameri- 
can planter  disdained  to  spend  where  he  had  made  it,"^ — 
money,  which  the  Creole  and  French  inhabitant  earned  lazily 
and  spent  imprudently,^  wasting  it  even  on  Sundays  in  foolish 
and  frivolous  pleasures.^  It  seems  that  the  climate  of  the 
country  did  not  permit  of  exertion,  but  created  rather  a  desire 
for  indolent  amusements.^^  "''It  is,"  says  vSealsfield,  "truly  a 
land  of  laziness,  well  adapted  to  a  nature  originally  aristocratic 
and  idle." 


*  The  Americans,  p.  169. 

5  Ibid.,  p.  170. 

6  Ihid.,  p.  179— Cf.  167,  186,  187— Berquin-Diivallon.  Fm^  de  la 
Colonic  Bspagnole,  p.  297 — Duke  Bernhard,  Reise,  v.  II,  p.  48,  107 — 
Baird,  Robert,  View  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  p.  282. 

7  The  Americans,  p.  180— Cf.  Flint,  Recollections,  p.  307.  "The 
Americans  come  hither  from  all  the  states.  Their  object  is  to  ac- 
cumulate wealth,   and   spend  it  somewhere  else." 

8  Nathan,  p.  310. 

^  The  Americans,  p.  148 — Cf.  Flint,  RecoVections,  p.  307 — ^Grund, 
Americaner,  p.  2)?),  states  that  in  1835  a  law  went  into  effect  according 
to  which  the  public  gambling  houses,  theatres  and  dance  halls  of  New 
Orleans  were  to  be  closed  on  Sundays. 

1^  Cf.  Darby,  Geographical  Description  of  the  State  of  Louisiana, 
p.  278.  "If  climate  operates  extensively  upon  the  action  of  human 
beings,  it  is  principally  their  amusements  that  are  operated  by  the 
proximity  of  the  tropics.  Dancing  might  be  called  the  principal  amuse- 
ment of  both  sexes." 

11  Pfianserlehen,  pt.  I,  p.  94. 

168  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

In  the  first  part  of  this  study^^  a  rather  favorable  picture 
has  been  given  of  some  French  immigrants,  whom  the  author 
described  in  their  struggle  for  livelihood  without  however 
criticising  the  conditions  which  kept  them  in  need  and  distress. 
That  Sealsfield  fully  recognized  these  conditions  and  their 
causes  may  be  seen  from  the  following  passage :  ^'^''Neither 
should  we  forget  that  the  Canadians  (at  that  time  Canada 
was  called  New  France)  were  the  first  who  discovered  Louisi- 
ana, and  established  here  their  home.  If  their  government 
had  permitted  them  to  do  as  they  pleased,  and  had  occasion- 
ally sent  them  a  cargo  of  farming  implements,  cattle,  weapons, 
and  things  of  this  kind,  which  were  of  higher  value  to  them 
than  barrels  of  dubloons,  they  would  probably  have  succeeded 
as  well  as  the  English  colonists  did.  They  are  of  good  stuff, 
these  Canadians,  in  every  respect.  But  their  despotic  govern- 
ment would  rule  everything,  would  have  its  hands  everywhere ; 
and  that  is  a  great  mistake — nowhere  more  so  than  in  found- 
ing a  colony.  Their  government  took  the  matter  into  its  own 
hands  and  directed  from  Versailles  undertakings  of  which  it 
knew  as  much  as  we  do  of  the  moon.  It  sent  colonists  good 
for  nothing,  and  an  army  of  office-holders  well  paid,  but  who, 
as  soon  as  possible,  began  to  comsume  their  salaries  in  luxuries, 
to  build  theatres,  dancing  and  playhouses — in  short,  to  civilize 
Louisiana  at  once.  Ah !  that  is  the  curse  of  Louisiana.  They 
brought  a  debauched  civilization  in  their  train,  which,  like  the 
worm,  gnaws  at  the  root,  and  which  I  fear  will  sooner  or  later 
corrupt  the  whole   fruit  of  this  beautiful  country." 

After  O'Reilly  had  taken  formal  possession  of  Louisiana 
in  1768,  another  regime  was  introduced,  one  of  even  more 
bureaucratic  principles  than  the  former.  Squire  Copeland, 
who  had  come  to  Louisiana  about  1800  and  who  traded  much 
with  the  inhabitants  of  New  Orleans,  gives  the  following 
description  of  the  economic  conditions  in  that  city.  ^^"Those 
poor  devils  lived  a  miserable  life.     They  could  not  approach 

12  Supra,  pp.  36-37. 

13  Nathan,  pp.  340-34L 

14  Der  Legitime,  pt.  H,  pp.  186-187. 

169  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

the  shore  without  first  having  obtained  permission  of  a  dozen 
shabby  idlers  to  buy  a  young  pig  or  a  rabbit,^"'  and  when  they 
finally  came,  they  were  always  accompanied  by  several  spies, 
who  did  not  lose  sight  of  them  vmtil  we  had  departed,  in  order 
that  we  might  not  infect  them  with  our  republicanism.  The 
devil  himself  they  did  not  fear  as  much  as  us  Americans, 
but  they  did  not  dare  touch  us  ....  Miserable  fellows !  stupid 
as  animals  in  everything;  only  in  one  thing  were  they  sharp 
— namely  in  making  their  subjects  still  more  stupid  and  in 
smothering  the  little  common  sense  they  did  have.  None 
dared  say  a  word  until  the  governor  had  given  his  permission. 
They  danced  whenever  he  wanted  them  to  do  so,  and  prayed 
when  he  commanded,  and  were  polite  and  again  rude  toward 
us  just  as  he  pleased.  No  one  was  allowed  to  think  or  to 
act  for  himself.  And  most  surprising  of  all,  these  miserable 
creatures,  who  lived  in  thatched  cabins  and  adobie  huts,  and 
waded  in  mire  knee-deep,  and  were  often  eaten  by  alligators 
when  they  stepped  out  of  their  houses,  who  knew  less  of 
citizen  life  than  our  most  stupid  negroes  do — they  believed 
themselves  civilized  and  us  barbarians  because  they  could 
scrape  a  leg  and  rattle  off  compliments." 

More  interesting  are  the  impressions  of  several  French 
noblemen  who  arrived  in  New  Orleans"'*'  with  the  desire  to 
take  possession  of  their  grants  in  the  Attacapas.  They  ar- 
rived there  in  1799  when  the  yellow  fever  was  again  ravaging 
the   city.^^     Chapter   III   of   Pflanzerlehen,   part   II,   entitled 

'^^  Cf.  Supra,  p.  143,  footnote  16. 

1^  The  last  part  of  The  Americans,  pp.  144-218,  offers  as  good  a 
description  of  New  Orleans  as  the  writer  has  met  anywhere. — Cf. 
Robertson,   Lonisiaim,  v.  I,  pp.   165-174. 

1'''  Cf.  Robertson,  Louisiana,  pp.  175-176,  and  also  the  words  with 
which  Ralph  Doughby  describes  the  city  durinf;:  an  epidemic.  "Nothing- 
was  to  be  seen  in  New  Orleans  but  hot,  low-eyed  negresses,  without 
masters  or  clothes,  who  ran  like  jackals  howling  through  the  streets, 
and  sneaking  abo'Ut  the  bolted  or  broken  doors  and  window  shutters, 
particularly  in  the  upper  suburb,  where  the  streets  were  totally  vacant 
and  desolate,  the  houses  open,  the  doors  and  windows  broken,  the 
simoon  blowing  from  Vera  Cruz,  and  no  other  sounds  to  be  heard 
than  the  solemn  rattle  of  hearses,  on  which  two  or  three  coffins  were 
laid,  one  above  the  other.  It  was  high  time  to  depart;  the  3^ellow  fever 
had   celebrated   his   triumphal   procession,   and   ruled   like   a   victorious 

170  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

"The  Soiree,  or  New  Orleans  in  the  year  1799,"  gives  a  vivid 
description  of  conditions  during  the  epidemic.  The  city  had 
become  a  wet  grave. ^^  "^^"With  its  empty,  locked-up  houses 
and  window  shutters,  filthy  streets,  filled,  instead  of  pave- 
ment, with  the  remains  of  animals,  gnawed  bones  and  skel- 
etons, at  which  whole  masses  of  carrion  crows  were  hacking 
and  pulling,  and  not  a  human  being  to  be  seen — our  ship  the 
only  one  in  the  harbor.  It  was  the  most  melancholy  looking 
rmd  deserted  town  I  had  ever  seen.  It  was  a  city  of  the  dead, 
whence  everything  of  life  had  departed."-*^ 

On  the  day  after  their  arrival  the  newcomers  wished  to 
ha\e  an  interview  with  the  governor,  Don  Salceda,  concerning 
the  necessary  form  or  law  to  be  observed  on  entering  into 
possession  of  the  land  which  had  been  granted  them  by  Louis 
XV. -^  Having  been  informed  that  the  governor  was  on  a 
tour  of  inspection  of  the  forts,  they  asked  permission  to  see 
the  vice-governor.  This  time  they  received  the  following 
answer:  "His  excellency  Don  Maria  Nicolas  Vidal  Chavez, 
Echavarri  de  Madrigal  y  Valdez,  civil  governor  lur/erteniente, 
also  military  auditor  in  the  province  of  Louisiana  and  Wer.t 
Florida,  further  chief  justice,  etc.,  etc.,^'^  is  in  town,  but  lives 
retired  from  all  business."  Only  when  Count  Vignerolles 
played  with  a  couple  of  louis  d'ors,  and  had  deposited  these 
"conditions"  one  by  one  into  the  hand  of  the  Castilian  butler, 

licro  in  a  town  taken  b\-  storm."  Ccorcjc  Howard,  p.  hS8.--Ct.  Dr. 
Panl  Alliot's  definition  of  yellow  fever.  Robertson,  Louisiana,  v.  I. 
p.  147 — ^Berqiiiin-Diivallon,  Vite  de  la  Colonic  Bspaanolc,  pp.  (S4-93 — 
Volney,   Viciv  of  the   United  States  of  America,  pp.  297-323. 

^^  Cf.  The  Americans,  p.  144. 

!•♦  Fflanzcrlehev,  pt.  II,  p.  76. 

-^  Cf.  The  Americans,  n.  193.  "It  !.'=  the  pestilential  miasmata 
which  rise  from  .swamps  and  rnarshes.  and  infect  the  air  to  a  degree 
which  it  is  diflRcult  to  describe.  These  oppressive  exhalations  load  the 
air,  and  it  is  almost  impossible  to  draw  breath." 

"1  Pflanzerlcben,  pt.   II,  pp.   95-96. 

--  Bcrqnin-Duvallon,  Vite  de  la  Colonic  Ilspaanole,  pp.  178-179  is 
ilie  onlv  place  where  we  have  found  his  w^hole  name  and  part  of  his 
title.  Here  lie  is  called  Lieutenant-Governeur-civil  et  auditeur  de 
pnerre  des  provinces  de  la  Lonisiane  et  de  la  Floridc  occidentale,  Ju?e, 
etc.,  etc.  Sealsfield  knew  Berqnin-Duvallon's  book,  vvhicli  we  think 
/the  above  passage  will  show.     Other  proofs  will  be  referred  to  later. 

171   


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

they  were  admitted.  The  impressions  which  the  visitors  re- 
ceived upon  entering  the  room  are  described  in  the  following 
lines :  ^^"On  a  chair,  which  stood  behind  a  table  upon  which 
lay  corsets  and  mosquito-fans,  old  breeches,  glasses  with 
remains  of  pineapple  punch,  garters,  and  such  other  things, 
sat  the  person  to  whom  we,  or  rather  the  Caballero  de 
Mazanares,  was  introduced  with  a  deep  bow.  He  wore  knee- 
breeches,  open  at  the  knee,  but  no  stockings,  one  of  his  feet 
was  dressed  in  an  old  slipper,  the  other  was  bare,  over  his 
shirt  he  had  a  black  coat,  on  his  head  a  three-cornered  hat, 
and  although  sitting,  had  a  sword  belted  to  his  side.  This 
was  his  excellency,  the  vice-gobernador — en  passant  be  it 
said,  the  most  disagreeable  ape  to  look  upon  I  ever  en- 
countered in  all  my  life."  He  swept  from  the  table  the 
"named  and  nameless"  articles,  leaving  only  the  punch  bowl 
and  glasses,  when  from  the  adjoining  room  came  forth  a 
creature,  yelling  and  cursing.  It  was  a  mulatto  wench,  dis- 
habille, who  with  the  most  astonishing  sans  gens  picked  up 
everything,  and  then  began  to  caress  his  Spanish  excellency, 
not  in  the  least  heeding  his  request  to  be  decent.  Finally  the 
woman  left,  and  the  Caballero  signed  the  documents  and  dis- 
missed the  Frenchmen  with  a  buen  viaje.  As  shown  below, -^ 
this  passage  proves  a  knowledge  of  Berquin-Duvallon's  Vue 
de  la  Colonie  Bspagnole. 

Another  picture,  drawn  by  Wetherell,  a  carpenter  in  the 
city  of  Natchidoches  during  the  last  decade  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  gives  proof  of  the  pomp  and  mock  court  life  of  this 
city  during  the  Spanish  regime.     He  had  beheld  Natchidoches 

23  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  II,  pp.  100-101. 

24  This  distorted  and  perhaps  somewhat  exaggerated  picture  of 
the  private  and  pubHc  Ufe  of  Vidal  most  probably  goes  back  to  the 
following  lines  in  Berqiiin-Diivallon,  p.  181.  After  a  lengthy  criticism 
of  this  chief  justice's  manner  of  executing  his  duty  we  read:  "A  man 
as  vicious  as  the  unjust  magistrate,  in  the  very  face  of  his  country- 
men, who  are  scandalized  by  his  manner  of  living,  and  in  a  position 
where  he  ought  to  give  others  the  example  of  good  morals,  is  not  the 
old  rake  with  a  monkey  face,  (a  mine  de  singe,  Affenphysiognomie) 
as  ugly  as  it  is  impudent  and  evil,  and  wallowing  in  his  celibacy,  seen 
openly  with  a  French  mulatress  whom  he  has  enriched  with  a  part  of 
his  plunder?" 

172  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

in  all  its  glory,  its  thriving  and  its  lustre.  He  had  also  wit- 
nessed its  decay  and  its  downfall. ^^  There  were  military 
parades  and  levees  with  all  those  present  qualified  for  court, 
who  afterwards  accompanied  the  commandant  to  church. ^'^ 
Yes,  there  were  even  three  distinct  social  orders  in  the  city, 
which  in  1788  counted  but  102P''  souls,  of  which  about  one 
half  were  people  of  color.  But  most  illustrious  were  the  days 
when  the  Marquis  of  Maison  Rouge  took  his  abode  in  the 
fort.  He  had  just  been  granted  some  land  on  the  Ouachita 
and  was  to  ^^''create  a  new  era  in  Louisiana,  and  thus  to 
balance  the  Revolutionary  States,  as  he  called  them." 

Since  Sealsfield  attached  so  much  significance  to  the 
Southwest,  we  believe  it  necessary  to  give  a  more  detailed 
description  of  the  remarkable  composition  of  Louisiana's 
population.  Pflanzerleben,  or  The  Life  of  a  Planter  and 
Scenes  in  the  Southwest,  as  Hebbe  and  Mackay  rendered  the 
titles  of  part  I  and  H,  respectively,  which  now  describes  the 
life  of  the  American  planter,  and  again  gives  pictures  of  the 
Creole,  is  probably  the  work  where  Sealsfield  depicts  life 
best,  since  it  is  that  of  his  own  immediate  environment. 

Creoles  are  the  descendants  of  the  white  people  who 
emigrated  to  Louisiana  during  the  colonial  period — i.  e.,  be- 
fore 1803 ;  and  are  properly  speaking  only  those  born  within 
the  limits  of  the  original  territory  of  Louisiana.^''  ''The  con- 
sequences of  an  oppresive  colonial  government  (described 
above),  the  natural  effects  of  an  enervating  and  sultry  climate, 
could  not  fail  giving  to  the  character  of  the  Creoles  a  certain 
tone  of  passiveness,  which  makes  them  an  object  of  interest.'' 
Thus   Sealsfield  says  in   The  Americans, ^^  and  continues  as 

2.^  Pflan:::erlehen,  pt.  I,  p.  312ff. 

26  The  following  quotation  may  serve  as  proof  that  Sealsfield's 
description  does  not  deviate  much  from  the  truth.  Gayarre,  Louisiana, 
V.  Ill,  p.  21.  "'Having  been  informed  by  the  curate  of  Natchidoches 
that  during  worship  the  church  is  filled  with  dogs,  I  request  the 
commandant  to  prevent  the  repetition  of  this  breach  of  decency'." 

^"^  Gayarre,  Louisiana,  v.  Ill,  p.  215. 

2S  Pflanzerleben,  pt.  I,  p.  319. 

29  Deiler,  Hanno.  Settlement  of  the  German  Coast  of  Louisiana, 
and  the  Creoles  of  German  Descent,  p.  114. 

3^  The  Americans,  p.  170ff. 

173  • 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

follows :  "Drawbacks  of  their  character  are  an  over-ruling 
passion  for  frivolous  amusements/''^  an  impatience  of  habit 
and  a  tendency  for  the  luxuriant  enjoyment  of  the  other  sex, 
without  being  very  scrupulous  in  their  choice  of  either  the 
black  or  the  white  race.  Their  greatest  defect,  however,  1^ 
their  indifference  towards  the  poor  and  towards  their  slaves." 
With  these  words  Sealsfield  introduces  the  Creole  in  his 
writings. 

Proceeding  to  a  more  detailed  description  of  their  char- 
acter, the  author  depicts  them  in  the  same  paragraph  as  not 
being  capables  of  ^^"either  violent  passions  or  of  strong  exer- 
tion." Their  unwillingness  to  work,  and  their  lack  of  will 
l)ower  and  of  every  mental  activity,  are  branded  somewhere 
else  with  the  adjective  "soft-soap.""''"  "^^The  Creoles  rathe^- 
dance  their  way  through  the  world,  just  as  their  fathers,  the 
French,  did  when  they  first  came  to  this  country.  Even  in 
their  first  settlements  they  could  not  rid  themselves  of  this 
foolish  dancing  mania,^"'  and  one  of  the  first  public  buildings 
that  was  erected  in  a  French  or  Creole  community  was  a  dance 
hall.'^^  In  chapter  V  of  Pflanzerlehen,  part  I,  which  bears  the 
heading  "The  Creoles,"  Sealsfield  caricatures  a  minuet 
executed  on  board  a  ship.     The  music   for  this  ex  abrupto 

31  Cf.  Flagg's  The  Far  West,  pt.  II,  p.  52— Cf.  Fran?:,  Alexander, 
/)/(•  Kolonisation  dcs  Mississippitalcs,  p.  420. 

32  The  Americans,  p.  170. 

33  Ralph  Doughby,  p.   153,   The   German  word  is  seifcnartig. 

34  Flagg's  The  Far  West,  pt.  II,  pp.  52-53.  "The  calm,  quiet  temir 
of  their  lives  presenting  but  few  objects  for  enterprise,  none  of  the 
strivings  of  ambition,  and  but  little  occasion  of  any  kind  to  elicit  the 
loftier  energies  of  our  nature,  has  imparted  to  their  character,  their 
feeling,  their  manners,  to  the  very  language  they  speak,  a  languid 
•softness." — Cf.  Volney,  C.  F.,  Viezv  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
p.  384. — ^Compare  with  the  testimony  of  these  men  that  of  Francisco 
Bouligny  (Fortier,  Louisiana,  V.  II,  Ch.  II,  p.  33ff.) 

3'>  George  Howard,  p.  220 — Cf.  The  Americans,  p.  173. 

3<''  Cf.  Berquin-Duvallon.  Vne  de  la  Colonic  Bspagnole,  pp  283-284. 
where  the  author  speaks  of  the  passion  for  dancing. — Cf.  Pflanaer- 
leben,  pt.  II,  p.  127.  "The  city  (New  Orleans)  consisted  only  of  some 
few  miseral)le  shacks,  when  a  theatre  had  to  be  erected.  Then  fol- 
lowed gambling  houses  and  ball  houses,  and  still  worse  houses.  And 
this  they  called  civilizing  the  country." 

— -  174  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

ball  is  furnished  by  two  Creoles  singing  ta-ta,  ta-ta,  ti-ti,  li-li, 
la — etc.  They  have  a  niaitre  de  danse,  and  believe  their 
whirling,  leaping  and  bounding  a  rincroyable,  divine!  siiperhe! 
and  finally  one  of  them  exclaims:  "O//^  Messieurs,  les  Ameri- 
cains  preferent  la  politique  a  toitte  autre  chose,  nous  la 
danse  1"'^''  This,  no  doubt,  is  true.  Although  it  was  only  a 
few  days  before  the  presidential  election  of  1828,  they  knew 
little,  and  cared  absolutely  nothing  about  it;  they  wanted  to 
be  let  alone  and  not  be  bothered  with  politics.  They  have, 
furthermore,  no  understanding  for  the  desire  of  their  Ameri- 
can neighbor  to  better  their  own  conditions  by  improving 
their  surroundings.  "Ah,"-'^  says  one  of  them,  ''the  shentel- 
men  in  America  sont  une  grande  nation,  but  they  give  no 
(juiet,  no  peace,  neither  by  day  nor  night;  all  they  turn  bottom 
upward — always  they  improve — never  stay  in  one  place  .  .  . 
They  come  calling  us  to  a  meeting,  'must  have  a  new  road', 
they  say,  'from  Alexandria  to  Natchidoches'.  'Well',  we 
reply,  'here  is  money,  make  the  road ;  our  negroes  shall  help, 
although  our  ancestors,  who  were  surely  no  drones,  did  with- 
out the  road  to  Natchidoches.'  "  But  the  progressive  Ameri- 
can settlers  want  to  extend  the  road  to  Santa  Fe,  and  another 
argument  ensues.  They  again  obtain  money  and  help,  for  this 
time  the  Creoles  are  in  hopes  that  they  won't  be  troubled  any 
more.  Soon,  however,  a  canal  is  needed,  and  the  Creoles 
argue  that  they  did  without  one  for  a  hundred  years,  and  if 
the  canal  were  really  necessary  "le  bon  Dieu  would  have  cer- 
tainly created  one."  ''An  diable  with  their  public  good,"  is 
their  slogan  even  when  called  as  jurors.  Their  bon  plaisir 
lakes  the  place  of  the  American's  desire  for  community  wel- 
fare.-'^ 

3'  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  I,  p.  221. 

38  Pflaruzerlcben,  pt.  I,  p.  253. 

3^  Cf.  Flint,  Recollections,  p.  209.  "But,  however  happy  these 
hunters,  left  unmolested  in  the  wilderness,  may  have  been,  the  country 
made  no  advances  towards  actual  civilization  and  improvement  under 
tliem.  Like  the  English  mariners  on  the  sea,  their  home  was  in  boats 
and  canoes,  along  these  interminable  rivers,  or  in  the  forests,  hunting 
with  the  Indians.  The  laborious  and  municipal  life,  and  the  agricul- 
tural and  permanent  industry  of  the  Americans,  their  complex  system 
of  roads,  bridges,  trainings,  militia,  trials  by  jury,  and  above  all,  their 

175 


CHARI.es  SEAI.SFIELD 

Many  Creoles,  especially  those  above  Alexandria,  are 
said  to  live  as  half -Indians;**'  the  majority  are  only  half 
civilized,  shallow,*^  and  many  ignorant  of  writing.*^ 

Ignorance  will  always  be  found  as  a  creator  and  con- 
commitant  of  immorality.  Such  was  also  the  case  with  our 
Creoles,  at  least  with  the  men;  "of*^  their  devotion  to  the 
Negresses,  they  are  strongly  and  justly  accused,  consequently, 
they  make  deplorable  husbands."  Their  women,  however, 
show  a  proper  sense  of  decorum.**  *^"Adultery  is  seldom 
known  among  the  better  classes,*^  notwithstanding  the  many 
grounds  afforded  them  by  the  infidelity  of  their  husbands." 
In  Pflanzerlehen  II  we  witness  a  most  disgusting  scene  of 
this  kind.  A  girl  who  has  proof  against  her  own  father,  a 
native  Frenchmen,  accuses  him  of  spoiling  her  slaves  by  mak- 
ing them  too  impudent  through  his  intimacy  with  them.*^  In 
the  Allains,*^  however,  who  inhabit  La  Chartreuse,  the  most 
beautiful  house  in  all  the  Attacapas,  the  author  describes  the 
voluptious  coquetry  of  a  Creole  woman  and  her  two  daughters 
who  live  here  as  moral  outcasts. 


taxes,  were  as  hostile  to  the  feelings  of  the  greater  portion  of  the 
inhabitants,  when  we  purchased  Louisiana,  as  the  fixed  home  and  labor 
of  a  Russian  are  said  to  be  to  a  Tartar." — Cf.  Flagg's  The  Far  West, 
p.  53.  "As  to  politics  and  the  affairs  of  the  nation,  which  their  coun- 
trymen on  the  other  side  of  the  water  ever  seem,  to  think  no  incon- 
siderable object  of  their  being,  they  are  too  tame  and  too  lazy,  and  too 
quiet  to  think  of  the  subject." 

40  George  Howard,  p.  225. 

41  Ralph  Doughby,  p.  83-.Cf.  Berquin-Duvallon,  p.  298. 

42  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  I,  p.  310— Cf.  Berquin-Duvallon,  p.  206. 

43  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  I,  p.  303. 

44  Sealsfield  agrees  with  Berquin-Duvallon  also  as  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  women,  who  are  pictured  by  both  writers  as  being  much 
superior  to  the  men. — Cf.  Franz,  Die  Kolonisation  des  Mississippitales, 
p.  421. 

45  The  Americans,  p.  172. 

46  Cf.  Darby,  William,  Geographical  Description  of  Louisiana, 
p.  276.  Tender,  affectionate,  and  chaste,  but  few  instances  of  con- 
nubial infidelity  arise  from  the  softer  sex." 

47  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  II,  pp.  196-201. 

48  Ibid.,  Chapters  II  and  III. 

176  


NATIONAI.  TYPES 

Of  their  indifference  toward  the  poor/^  aUuded  to  above, 
the  Creoles  gave  proof  when  they  refused  to  admit  the  San 
Domingo  refugees,  their  own  brethren  and  cousins,  while  the 
northern  states  opened  their  gates  to  the  unfortunates.  They 
showed  themselves  indeed  so  inhuman  and  cruel  that  Seals- 
field  was  justified  in  saying,  "that  period  will  forever  remain 
a  blot  of  disgrace  upon  the  not  very  glorious  history  of 
Louisiana."^"  We  have  here  probably  another  example  where 
Sealsfield  proves  his  familiarity  with  Berquin-Duvallon's 
work  (pp.  230-242),  which  discusses  at  length  the  fate  which 
the  San  Domingo  refugees  met  in  Louisiana  and  compares 
it  with  the  hospitality  and  kindness  shown  them  by  northern 
citizens. 

Even  Menou,  who  with  his  whole  family,  was  much 
superior  to  most  Creoles,  had  a  good  many  qualities  in  com- 
mon with  them.  He  ruled  his  house  with  an  iron  hand,  and 
was,  in  truth,  a  tyrant  within  his  domestic  circle, ^^  especially 
where  the  marriage  of  one  of  his  daughters  was  concerned. 
A  marriage  de  convenance  usually  decided  the  fate  of  Creole 
girls,  not  affection  and  congeniality.^^ 

Ahhough  Menou  did  not  treat  his  slaves  as  cruelly  as  did 
the  rabble,  he  believed  that  an  occasional  flogging  was  the 
best  method  of  showing  superiority.'''^  The  most  effective 
punishment,  however,  which  he  could  inflict  upon  an  untam- 
able Negro  was  the  threat  to  sell  him  to  Merveille,  the  owner 
of  a  sugar  plantation,^*  and  a  "veritable  devil,  who  had  his 
Negroes  flogged  so  unmercifully  that  he  had  very  often  been 
in  danger  of  his  life."^^ 

49  Cf.  Berquin-Duvallon,  Vue  de  la  Colonic  Bspagnolc,  p.  223. 
"Benefaction  and  generosity  are  unfamiliar  to  them."  (The  pages  fol- 
lowing give  a  striking  example  of  the  absence  of  these  traits). 

50  Pflanr.erlehen,  pt.  II,  pp.  127-128. 

51  Ralph  Doughhy,  p.  264. 
5^  Ibid.,  p.  269. 

53  The  Americans,  p.  133 — ^Cf.  Berquin-Duvallon,  p.  210,  "dur 
pour  leurs  esclaves."     Cf.  ibid.,  p.  227. 

54  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  I,  p.  110. 

55  Cf.  ibid.,  p.  157,  "To  have  a  French  master  is  as  good  as  to 
have  the  devil  himself"  is  a  negro  proverb. 

177  . 


CHARI^ES  SEALSFIELD 

Long  visits  amongst  friends,  and  feasts  connected  with 
them,  are  a  bright  side  of  the  life  of  the  better  class. '^^  The 
Menous,  for  example,  were  ''entertaining"  constantly. 

Another  evidence  of  Sealsfield's  indebtedness  to  Berquin- 
Duvallon,  we  find  in  his  remarks  on  their  language,  or  rather, 
on  the  Creole's  pronunciation  of  French.  He  must  have 
known  the  book  and  must  have  reproduced  the  passage 
quoted  below'"''  from  memory  as  follows :  ^"^"zirai  a  la  zasse  et 
ze  vous  assure  que  ze  rentrai  avec  ma  zarze  de  zibier  (J'irai 
a  la  chasse  et  je  vous  assure  que  je  rentrai  avec  ma  charge  de 
gibier).  Furthermore  in  a  footnote  to  this  example  of  hissing 
pronunciation  of  the  Creoles,  he  makes  the  same  general  re- 
marks as  we  fmd  in  Vue  de  la  Colonie  Bspagnole. 

The  Creoles'  character  and  mode  of  life  are  summed  up 
best  by  Vignerolles  who  in  the  presence  of  several  Creoles 
gives  the  following  description  of  the  Attacapans  during  the 
last  years  of  Louisiana's  colonial  existence :  '"''''■''They  were 
really  a  strange  people,  and  reminded  us,  only  too  often,  of 
the  bayous  which  had  driven  us  almost  to  despair — a  torn 
fragment,  carried  hither  by  the  floods  of  the  Mississippi,  sent 
from  the  European  stream  of  civilization,  and  gone  into 
stoppage,  cessation,  and  decay.  I  cannot  find  a  more  gentle 
expression,  for  the  whole  colony  really  bore  a  disagreeable 
expression  of  decay.  They  resided  in  uncomfortable  houses, 
and  had  thousands  of  cattle,  calves,  and  cows  on  the  meadows, 
and  not  a  drop  of  milk  or  an  ounce  of  butter  in  the  house, 
because  the  care  of  a  milk  cow  would  have  made  too  mucli 
trouble.*^"  They  had  slaves  by  the  dozens,  but  employed  them 
in  fanning  away  the  mosquitoes  from  the  mistresses,  carrying 

50  Cf.  Flagg's  The  far  West,  pt.  II,  p.  52— Voltiev,  View  of  the 
United  States,  pp  385-386. 

^"^  Berqiiin-Duvallon,  Vue  de  la  Colonie  Bspagnole,  p.  292.  ''Ze 
ue  sace  point  avoir  ::ay}tais  ete  saeer,  que  se  ne  sois  rentre  ce  moi  avec 
nia  sarge  de  zibier." 

■■^8  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  II,  p.  290. 
">'»  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  II,  pp.  215-217. 

00  For  cattle  raising  (vacherie)  in  the  Attacapas  see  Franz,  Die 
Kolonisation  des  Mississippitales,  p.  288. 

178  , 


NATIONAL  TYPES 

her  reticule  or  fan,  and  rolling  her  from  one  end  of  the  bal- 
cony to  the  other,  playing  with  the  spoiled  children,  and 
afterwards  causing  them  to  be  whipped  by  the  overseer  for 
[)astime  ....  And  then,  the  inhuman  coldness  with  which  they 
could  order  their  Negroes  to  be  whipped,  and  their  cruelty 
to  their  animals.  Do  you  see,  a  nobleman  will,  whenever  he 
punishes  a  Negro,  never  forget  what  he  owes  to  himself;  the 
canaille  is  always  cruel,  I  have  ever  found  it  so." 

And  still  these  Creoles  are  superior  to  some  of  their  an- 
cestors, who  lived  in  the  backwoods  and  by  constant  contact 
with  savages  have  assumed  a  similar  character.  '"'^"The  back- 
woods Frenchman  of  Missouri  is  brutal,  and  on  account  of 
his  connection  with  the  Indians,  malicious  and  unscrupulous, 
which  the  Creole  is  not.  A  mild  climate,  intercourse  with 
refined  foreigners  and  Americans  from  the  North,  have 
mitigated  him,  whereas  the  French,  living  in  the  backwoods, 
have  only  met  with  the  scum  of  American  and  foreign  popula- 
tion— we  cannot  designate  the  majority  of  adventurers  and 
fur  traders,  who  live  there  in  their  own  way,  by  a  dififerent 
term." 

Even  less  favorable  are  the  author's  remarks  concerning 
the  Acadians,  who  had  come  from  Nova  Scotia,°"  wdience 
they  were  dispersed  over  the  English  Colonies  and  Louisiana. 
^•'"Between  the  1st  of  January  and  the  13th  of  May,  1765, 
about  six  hundred  and  fifty  Acadians  had  arrived  at  New 
Orleans,  and  from  that  town  had  been  sent  to  form  settle- 
ments in  the  Attacapas  and  Opelousas."  '^''Here  they  lived  a 
most  miserable  life,  suffering  from  the  lack  of  food  and 
shelter,  for  which  the  majority  depended  upon  the  govern- 
ment*^'"' and  charitable  people.     The  Creoles  and  Frenchmen 

<^i  Die  Vereinigtcn  Staaicu,  v.  II,  pp.  126-127. 

«-  Supra,  pp.  i7-2>^. 

**-'^  Gayarre,  Louisiana,  v.  II,  p.  121. 

^^  For  a  picture  of  an  Acadian  colony  see  Terragc,  Les  Dcniicrs 
Annecs  de  la  Louisiane  Francaise,  p.  281. 

^'«  Cf.  Gayarre,  Louisiana,  v.  II,  p.  \22— San  Domingo  Arcliivcs, 
A.  G.  I.,  87-1-21  No.  4.  New  Orleans,  October  10,  1781— Berquin- 
Duvallon,  Vue  dc  la  Colonic  Bspagnole,  p.  250. 

179  


CHARI^ES  SEAI^SFIEIvD 

looked  down  upon  them,  partly,  of  course,  because  they  were 
poor  and  possessed  few  or  no  Negroes,  and  had  to  plant  their 
corn  with  their  own  rough  and  dirty  fingers. "^^  Nathan  calls 
them  *^""excelient  hunters,  but  savage,  riotous,  drunken  bar- 
barians." And  even  the  fair-minded  Count  VigneroUes  speaks 
of  them  as  follows :  ^^"The  Acadians  had  at  the  first  sign 
of  the  prairie  fire  shipped  in  boats  on  their  bayou"  to  capture 
the  frightened  animals  who  were  driven  into  the  water  by  the 
prairie  fire.  ''These  Acadians  were  half  savage  figures,  the 
men  only  with  leggings  around  their  thighs ;  the  few  women 
in  coarse  chemises  and  a  kind  of  vest.  Our  hearts  revolted  at 
the  brutal  manner  in  w^hich  they  shot  down  the  animals. "^^ 
The  Acadian  Roch  Martin  on  the  other  hand,  is  an  upright 
and  honest  fellow,  who  feels  somewhat  hurt  at  being  spoken 
of  as  an  Acadian  dog,  but  who  knows  himself  to  be  far 
superior  to  most  Creoles  and  Frenchmen  of  the  Attacapas, 
and,  therefore,  is  rather  profuse  with  words  of  advice  to 
VigneroUes  and  his  companions.  He  warns  them  of  the 
Creoles  and  French. "^^ 

Somewhere  on  the  Red  River,  at  Holmes*  Station,  in 
the  heart  of  the  Creole  settlements,  we  are  made  acquainted 
with  some  American  planters  and  their  work,  and  its  influence 
upon  the  community.  George  Howard  introduces  them  with 
the  following  words :  ^^"A  dozen  American  families  have 
settled  here  simultaneously  with  myself.  They  thrive  well. 
It  is  charming  to  me  to  view  the  development  of  our  country 
in  its  various  phases,  and  to  consider  the  abyss  between  the 
past  and  the  present.  Thus  I  have  seen  the  settlements  in 
the  plantations  which  we  are  approaching,  exclusively  in- 
habited by  Creoles,  and  in  as  poor  a  state  of  cultivation  as 
can  be  imagined.     I   full  well  remember  my  sadness  at  be- 

66  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  II,  p.  172. 

67  Nathan,  p.  92. 

68  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  II,  pp.  316-317. 

69  A  very  good   and  condensed   characterization  of   the  Acadians 
may  be  found  in  Berquin-Duvallon.  pp.  250-251. 

70  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  II,  p.  210. 

71  Ibid.,  pt.  I,  pp.  337-340. 

180  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

holding  these  Rip  van  Winkle  huts  and  houses,  and  those 
meagre  cotton  and  tobacco  fields  covered  with  weeds.  It 
seemed  a  cursed  spot,  on  which  work  would  be  utterly  use- 
less, and  the  community  doomed  to  starvation.  But  a  fev\^ 
dozen  Americans  have  arrived,  and  they  have  already  raised 
the  character  of  the  land.  At  first  there  was  no  end  to  quar- 
rels, slanders,  and  hon  mots.  The  whole  community  had  bu': 
one  voice  in  this  respect :  it  resembled  an  able-bodied  land- 
lord, who,  within  his  four  walls,  cares  for  neither  the  world 
nor  his  guests — well  avv^are  that  both  must  drink  his  sour  wine, 
it  being  the  only  species  in  that  entire  region ;  and  who  was 
only  roused  from  his  lethargy  on  suddenly  beholding,  opposite 
his  door,  a  new  sign  and  a  new  landlord,  promising  cheap  fare. 
Notwithstanding  the  voice  of  the  good  man  and  his  party,  the 
community  are  eager  to  prove  the  wine  of  the  newcomer. 
They  find  it  superior  to  the  former  sour  stuff,  and  thus 
gained  by  the  rivalry.  They  have  gained,  the  place  has  gained, 
for  the  influx  of  travelers  increases  through  the  fame  of  the 
good  wine  and  the  excellent  host.  The  same  with  our 
Creoles  on  this  and  all  other  stations.  Their  coarse  and  heavy 
tobacco  becomes  fragrant  and  perfumed,  their  yellow  and 
short  cotton,  long  and  white,  excelling  all  the  rest  in  the 
State.  It  was  precisely  the  same  with  their  little  community, 
as  with  the  above;  the  people  lived  comfortably  and  con- 
tentedly in  their  indolence,  but  were  hurried  out  of  it  by  the 
lively  approach  of  a  youthful  rival ;  and  it  requires  the  exer- 
cise of  all  their  five  senses  to  preserve  themselves  from  being 
overshadowed,  if  not  overwhelmed." 

Here  wx  have  but  an  example  of  the  better,  the  morally 
and  physically  stronger,  surviving  and  finally  taking  the  place 
of  the  weaker.  '^-"Indolence,  luxury,  and  effeminacy,  are 
vices  that  are  but  seldom  to  be  met  with  in  the  American 
planter.  He  does  not  yield  to  the  northern  farmer  in  activity 
or  industry.  He  cannot  work  in  person  without  exposing  him- 
self to  a  bilious  fever;  but  this  is  not  necessary;  the  superin- 
tendence of  his  affairs  is  sufficient  occupation  for  him."    Con- 

'^2  The  Americans,  p.  136. 

181 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

cerning  their  alleged  intimacy  with  female  slaves,  the  author 
seeks  to  save  their  reputation  with  the  following  words : 
'■^"Of  the  effeminate  and  luxurious  style  in  which  the  southern 
planters  are  said  to  indulge — of  their  pretended  fondness  for 
female  slaves,  without  whose  assistance  they  cannot  find  their 
beds,  T  have  never  had  any  proof,  though  in  both  my  jour- 
neys I  have  not  passed  less  than  a  year  in  Mississippi  and 
Louisiana,  and  know  one-half  of  the  plantations."  And  again 
in  Chapter  II  of  Pflanzerlehen  II,  where  the  worry  and  toil  of 
a  planter's  week  are  described,  we  read:  ^"^"People  often  con- 
sider the  life  of  a  planter  in  Louisiana,  a  continued  series  of 
enjoyments;  a  resting  on  rosebeds,  in  a  palanquin,  fanned  by 
a  couple  of  Negresses,  and  so  on.  But  in  truth,  our  planter's 
life  offers  fewer  comforts  and  enjoyments,  than  fall  to  the 
lot  of  the  northern  citizen,  who  may  perhaps  be  less  wealthy. 
Take  for  instance  our  table.  It  is  laid  out  all  the  week  with 
ham,  buckwheat  cakes,  and  fried  potatoes — an  article  of 
luxury,  since  they  are  imported  from  Ireland.  Now  and  then 
for  a  change— mackerel,  a  hen,  or  turkey,  of  which,  by  the 
way,  some  sick  Negro  or  other  has  his  share.  Venison  is 
plentiful,  it  is  true;  deer  and  bears  appear  daily  on  the  edges 
of  the  forest,  and  swim  across  the  river ;  wild  geese  and  ducks 
fly  by  thousands  above  your  head,  often  drowning  your  voice 
with  their  cries;  but  we  have  no  time  to  think  of  shooting 
them,  and  even  did  we  spare  a  shot,  ten  chances  to  one,  that 
an  alligator  would  dispute  the  possession  of  the  prey  .... 
Thus  we  never  think  of  hunting,  even  were  the  heat  less  op- 
pressive. By  the  most  scrutinizing  order  alone,  can  we  dis- 
charge our  numerous  daily  duties.  Mrs.  How^ard  is  in  motion 
from  early  dawn.  The  pickaninnies  must  be  attended  to  also, 
the  families  must  be  supplied  with  their  rations,  and  cared 
for  in  many  other  respects  .  .  .  She  is  for  ever  in  motion ; 
Psyche,  behind  her  with  ten  bunches  of  keys,  unlocking  and 
locking;  a  storeroom  remaining  open  for  ten  minutes,  is. sure 
to  be  ravaged  or  emptied.     These  Negroes  steal  worse  than 

73  Ihid.,  p.  130. 

74  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  I,  pp.  84-88. 

182  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

crows,  conceal  the  stolen  goods  wherever  they  can,  and  what 
they  cannot  hide,  they  destroy  .  .  .  While  Mrs.  Howard  hns 
the  care  of  fifty  Negroes,  on  me  devolves  the  duty  of  superin- 
tending the  cotton  and  corn  crops,  the  cotton-gin,  and  a  thou- 
sand other  things.  Nothing  but  an  exact  knowledge  of  each 
man's  capacity  can  secure  the  master  against  fraud  and  ruin." 

Some  American  planters  tried  to  alleviate  the  evil  of 
slavery  through  kindness  and  consideration.  At  least  George 
Howard,  at  whose  plantation  the  author  entertains  us  for 
weeks,  wants  to  be  a  father  to  twenty-five  families  of 
Negroes.'"'  He  sincerely  desires  the  welfare  of  his  slaves,  and 
therefore,  pursues  the  course  wdiich  he  is  persuaded  is  the 
right  one  for  their  final  civilization,^^  namely,  to  make  them 
more  human  through  kindness  and  love. 

It  seems  that  the  Frenchman  and  his  descendants,  the 
Creoles  and  Acadians  (other  admixtures  of  blood  are  not  im- 
portant enough  to  destroy  the  strain)  were  not  able  to  suc- 
ceed in  the  wilderness  as  well  as  the  American,  English  and 
German  colonists  did.  One  of  the  reasons,  Sealsfield  believes, 
is  the  Frenchman's  dependence  upon  his  fellow  creatures.  He 
has  an  extraordinary  desire  to  be  "amused, ^^  to  chat,  causer, 
as  he  calls  it,  and  once  reduced  to  himself,  he  soon  loses  these 
brilliant  attributes  which,  while  they  so  eminently  distinguish 
his  nation,  expose,  at  the  same  time,  a  want  of  mental  con- 
sistency and  creative  power.  Surely  we  find  in  civilized  life 
nothing  more  stupid — the  Negroes  alone  excepted — than  a 
Frenchman  or  Creole  who  has  been  deprived  of  society  for 
any  length  of  time.  His  decline  in  civilization  is  striking;  he 
evinces  not  the  least  desire  for  mental  enjoyment;  reading  he 
considers  a  loss  of  time — folly.  He  is  entirely  the  opposite 
of  the  American  or  Englishman,  who  even  in  solitude  pro- 
gresses onward — yes !  and  in  it,  will  become  an  independent 
man.  Behold  him  on  his  remote  plantation,  in  the  midst  of 
a  primeval  forest,  with  aU  its  energie — he  is  independent.   May 

■^5  Pflanzcrlebcn,  pt.  I,  p.  165. 

70  Ibid.,  p.  146. 

■^"^  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  I,  pp.  78-79. 

183  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

not  the  natural  superiority  of  the  English  and  the  Americans, 
and  the  higher  degree  of  civil  liberty  to  which  they  have  at- 
tained, be  considered  as  attributes  to  their  different  elements 
of  constitution  and  national  character?  I  think  so.  Where 
the  necessities  of  society  demand  it,  the  individual  raises  no 
objection  to  constraints,  necessary  on  account  of  the  central- 
ization of  the  social  laws." 

Sealsfield  was  especially  interested  in  the  status  of  social 
relations  between  the  Creole  and  the  American  settlers.  In  Dcr 
Legitime,  ^^he  treats  of  the  change  which  was  experienced 
by  the  inhabitants  of  Louisiana  after  the  cession  of  the  ter- 
ritory in  1803,  At  first  they  feared  bad  results,  but  finally 
the  better  class  became  aware  of  the  advantages  which  arose 
to  them  out  of  this  union,  namely,  the  establishment  of  more 
liberal  institutions,  whereas  the  lower  class  continued  to  con- 
sider the  newcomers  intruders,  and,  therefore,  refrained  from 
all  connections  with  them.'^^  Undoubtedly,  the  author  believe^ 
that  great  benefits  will  be  derived  from  intermarriage.  Two 
of  his  principal  characters,  Doughby  and  Howard,  live  in 
happy  wedlock  with  Creole  girls;  Vignerolles,  a  Frenchman, 
marries  Emily  Warren,  and  thus  a  girl  of  New  England's 
would-be  aristocracy,  a  Kentuckian,  and  Virginian  are  united 
with  French  aristocracy  and  Creole  slavocracy. 

'^8  Der  Legitime,  pt.  II,  pp.  128-130. 
"^^  Cf.  Supra,  pp.  61-62. 


184 


Chapter  V. 

NEGROES  AND  SLAVERY. 

We  cannot  conclude  our  descriptions  of  Louisiana's 
population  without  speaking  of  the  Negro.  To  men  of  Seals- 
field's  character  and  temperament,  the  question  as  to  the  life 
and  social  condition  of  the  black  race  in  America  must  have 
had  an  especial  appeal ;  and  his  reader,  the  German  of  the 
fourth  and  fifth  decades  of  the  last  century,  must  have  been 
equally  interested  in  an  institution  which,  in  strange  con- 
tradiction to  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Declaration  of 
the  Rights  of  Man,^  treated  a  whole  race  of  human  beings  as 
chattels,  living  in  absolute  bondage — an  institution  which, 
moreover,  had  been  upheld  and  perpetuated  by  the  very  men 
who  had  framed  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Seals- 
field  tried  to  reconcile  the  conditions  which  we  are  about  to 
depict,  with  his  descriptions  of  liberty  and  equality  either  by 
ignoring  the  facts  of  the  origin  and  growth  of  slavery,  or  by 
reasoning  in  a  manner  such  as  the  following:  since  despite 
our  efforts  to  avert  it,  the  evil  exists,  we  must  try  to  remedy 
it  by  taking  the  right  stand,  and  work  toward  eventual  eman- 
cipation by  educating  the  Negroes  through  kind  treatment 
and  by  putting  them  in  possession  of  property.  Furthermore, 
he  himself,  although  a  professed  enemy  to  every  sort  of 
slavery,^  kept  slaves  on  his  plantation  in  Louisiana,  (if  he  ever 
possessed  one)^  and  felt,  therefore,  morally  obliged  to  justify 
his  views  by  picturing  conditions  in  colors  less  dark  than,  for 

1  Goebel,  Julius,  Jus  Connatiim  and  the  Declaration  of  the  Rights 
of  Man,  (Jour,  of  Engl,  and  Germ.  Phil.,  v.  XIX,  No.  I,  pp.  1-18.) 

2  Die  Vereinigten  Staaten,  v.  II,  p.  161. 

s  His  biographers  assert  it  without  any  other  proof  than  the 
author's  own  words,  which,  however,  have  been  contradicted  by  facts 
in  more  than  one  case. 

185 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

example,  the  publications  of  the  American  Anti-slaverv 
Society  did.  Thus  it  may  be  said  of  Sealsfield  what  the  author 
of  an  anonymous  book  on  Negro  Slavery*  remarks  of  the 
planter  in  Hall's  Sketches  of  America:  "As  a  planter  he  is  in- 
terested in  concealing  the  evils,  and  still  more  the  enormities, 
of  Negro  servitude;  while,  as  an  American  (Sealsfield  always 
speaks  of  himself  as  an  American)  he  is  naturally  anxious  to 
vindicate  the  national  character  in  the  eyes  of  a  foreigner." 
The  author  must  have  reasoned  as  Compte  de  Vignerolles  did 
after  he  had  studied  the  situation  and  had  overcome  his  in- 
born prejudices:  ^"There  are  some  evils  which  cannot  be 
cured  by  avoiding  them,  but  only  by  boldly  meeting  and  man- 
fully facing  them.  Such  an  evil  is  slavery  in  the  southern 
parts  of  the  Union." 

But  before  entering  upon  his  views  on  slavery  as  a  prin- 
ciple and  an  institution,  we  shall  draw  some  sketches  of  the 
daily  life  and  social  conditions  of  the  black  race  as  the  author 
describes  it  in  The  Americans,  and  at  George  Howard's  plan- 
tation, w^here  w^e  shall  see  twenty-five  families,  good  and  bad, 
in  joy  and  in  sorrow,  at  work  and  after  work,  on  weekdays 
and  Sundays. 

They  live  in  a  little  colony  of  huts  close  together,  each 
family  inhabiting  its  own  little  cabin.®  We  notice,  then,  that 
the  very  arrangement  is  based  upon  family  life  and  not  upon 
promiscuous  concubinage,  as  was  usually  the  case.''  "Formal 
marriages,"  he  says  in  The  Americans,  ^"rarely  take  place  be- 
tween slaves;  if  the  Negro  youth  feels  himself  attracted  by 
the  charms  of  a  black  beauty,  their  master  allows  them  to 
cohabit.  If  the  female  slave  is  on  a  distant  plantation,  the 
youth  is  permitted  to  see  her,  provided  he  be  trustworthy,  and 
not  suspected  of  an  intention  to  effect  his  escape.     The  chil- 

4  Negro  Slavery,  or  a  View  of  the  more  Prominent  Features  of 
(hat  State  of  Society,  as  it  exists  in  the  United  States  of  America  .  .  . 
London,  1823,  p.  2. 

5  Nathan,  p.  378. 

6  Cf.  American  Slavery  as  it  is,  p.  19,  43. 

7  Cf.  Ibid.,  p.  85. 

^  The  Americans,  p.  133. 

186  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

dren  belong  to  the  mother,  or  rather  to  her  master,  who  is 
not  permitted  to  dispose  of  them  before  they  are  ten  years 
of  age."  In  one  case,  the  antlior  tells  its,  Howard  acquired 
a  female  slave  for  four  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  from  Baker's 
Station  to  put  an  end  to  the  continual  excursions  of  one  of 
his  Negroes.^ 

^**''Each  family  has  pigs  and  poultry,  which  are  main- 
tained in  the  woods  and  plantation  at  the  expense  of  the 
planter."  Since  most  Negroes  have  usually  finished  their 
tasks  by  four  o'clock,  the  remaining  time  is  used  by  the 
women  to  raise  vegetables  and  tobacco,  which  they  either 
consume  themselves  or  offer  for  sale.  "Every  male  and 
female  Negro  receives  monthly  a  bushel  of  corn,  which  they 
prepare  In  large  hand-mills  '^for  their  favorite  hominy,"  and 
since  they  receive  also  "weekly  rations  of  meat,  ham,  and 
salt-fish,"^-  they  certainly  cannot  complain  either  of  the  lack 
or  the  monotony  of  food.^"^ 

George  Howard's  Negroes  receive  half-yearly  allowances 
of  clothing.  That  for  winter  consists  of  a  ^^"woolen  blanket, 
of  which  the  women  prepare  a  suitable  garment,  with  the 
necessary  material  for  pants."  Their  summer  dress  consists 
of  ^-"'"llght  cotton  inexpressibles,  and,  in  the  cool  of  the  morn- 
ing, shirts  of  like  material."  ^*^"The  women  are  clnd  in  short 
skirts  and  chemises,  with  a  fastening  around  the  neck."  Quite 
a  bit  of  trouble  was  experienced  when  Mrs.  Howard  enforced 
the  covering  of  the  bosom."  Women,  when  sick,  and  during 
the  period  of  confinement  are  often  taken  to  the  back  parlor 
of  the  planter's  home,  where  they  receive  the  best  of  car^^. 
Here  Tabby  Is  delivered  of  twins,  and  here  she  stays  while 

!>  Fflauccrlehcn,  pt.  I,  p.  52. 

i^>  Ihid.,  pt.  I,  p.  74. 

II  Cf.  Peck's  Guide  to  Ihc  West,  pp.  121-122. 

^-  Cf.  The  Amerieans,  p.  130. 

13  Cf.  Amerlean  Slavery,  pp.  18,  28-35. 

14  Pflanzerleben,  pt  I,  p.  74. 
i«>  Ihid.,  pp.  67-68. 

16  Ihid.,  p.  70. 

17  Cf.  American  Slavery,  p.  19,  40-41. 

187 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

her  infants  need  the  care  of  Mrs.  Howard,  since  the  mother 
herself  is  too  careless  to  be  trusted  with  the  nursing  of  her 
infants;  and  before  she  leaves  for  her  own  little  cabin,  she 
is  permitted  to  receive  some  ''callers"  here.  ^^"Among  the 
guests,"  says  Sealsfield,  'Ve  behold,  several  colored  gentle- 
men from  the  neighboring  plantations — at  least  ten  miles 
distant — all  in  full-dress.  The  ladies — any  other  term  would 
be  sacrilege — in  calico,  even  silk  dresses,  bearing  on  their 
gloved  arms  Florence  shawls,  on  their  woolly  heads  silk  tur- 
bans; their  beaux  in  blue,  yellow,  green  and  white  frock-coats 
and  jackets;  and  red,  blue  and  green  pantaloons;  shoes  and 
stockings,  watch  ribbons  and  chains,  and,  as  I  live,  two  of 
the  gentlemen  carry  monocles,  or  rather  penny  watch  glasses, 
equally  good  for  actual  service.  They  have  spied  the  new 
fashion  in  Vergennes  and  Merveilles,  and  are  anxious  to  be 
everyhit  gentlemen  .  .  .  Queer  creatures,  these  blacks !  Every 
feature  and  motion  aped,  and  aped  in  the  most  fantastic 
style.  Their  aping  ^^often  produces  looks,  hatred  and  punish- 
ment. Our  white  population  of  a  certain  grade  abhor  it;  and 
even  more  enlightened  individuals  behold  in  it  gloomy  fore- 
bodings. But  there  is  no  help  for  it !  Once  for  all  the 
Negro  renounces  his  color,  and  be  his  body  ever  so  black, 
in  his  manners,  he  strives  to  be  white.  ^'*'A11  his  thoughts  and 
desires  are  the  reverse  of  those  of  the  Indian.  Contemplating 
their  odious,  affected  manners,  a  stoic  might  be  unable  to 
refrain  from  anger,  and  be  led  strongly  to  treat  them  as  a 
troop  of  clothed  ourang-outangs." 

Their  life  is  free  of  cares;  joyfully  and  happily,  ever 
laughing  and  talking,  they  do  their  work,  and  spend  their 
evenings.  Their  very  laughter  is  so  carefree  that  sometimes 
their  master  envies  it;  merrily  they  seize  upon  the  bright  side 

18  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  I,  pp.  12-14. 

19  Cf.  Odiim,  Howard  W.,  Social  and  Mental  Traits  of  the  Negro, 
p.  47. 

20  Odiim  claims  that  only  by  educating  the  Negro  as  a  Negro,  as 
one  of  his  color,  rather  than  one  who  is  to  imitate  white  man,  and 
with  the  proper  material,  he  can  be  raised  to  that  higher  level  of 
culture. 

188  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

of  life,  driving  all  dull  care  away.^^  Another  phase  of  care- 
freeness  is  a  good  portion  of  carelessness,  which,  were  it  not 
for  the  mistress  of  the  plantation  would  soon  cause  everything 
to  go  to  ruin — garments,  food,  and  their  very  children.^- 
-^"The  Negro,  when  in  good  humor — and  this  he  always 
shares  with  his  master — enters  on  his  occupation  with  a  sort 
of  grace,  and  a  lightness  of  heart,  never  found  amongst  the 
white  population.  You  are  disgusted  (says  Howard)  with 
the  gloomy  expression  of  the  white  laborer,  compared  with 
that  of  the  black."  While  at  work  he  is  forever  in  motion, 
prattling,  laughing  and  joking.  ^^"H  he  finds  no  human  being 
with  whom  he  can  pass  his  time  in  social  converse,  he  turns 
to  the  first  object  that  meets  his  eye.  A  dog,  a  mouse,  a  rat, 
answers  his  purpose,  until  something  turns  up ;  and  only  when 
this  novelty  is  not  to  be  found,  does  he  grow  irritated,  im- 
patient and  dull."  ^-'Sometimes,  on  a  Sunday,  a  little  amuse- 
ment is  arranged  for  them.  They  are  given  something  special 
to  eat,  and  several  bottles  of  rum.  This  feast  is  followed  by 
a  dance,  which  lasts  till  almost  midnight. ^^  Their  dances,-" 
indeed,  are  sensuous.  Voluptiousness  is  visible  in  every  mo- 
tion of  the  Negresses.  But  this  is  only  natural,  and  must  not 
be  judged  too  severely.  -^''It  is  not  so  much  vice  as  bad  habit, 
which  should  be  well  distinguished  from  the  lasciviousness  of 
white  females.    However,  it  is  a  strange  fact,  that  our  female 

21  Pflanaerlehen,  pt.  I,  pp.  22-23. 

22  Pflan::erlehen,  pt.  I,  pp.  67,  87— Cf.  Odum,  Social  and  Mental 
Traits  of  the  Negro,  p.  155. 

23  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  I,  p.  69. 

24  Ibid.,  pt.  I,  p.  77. 

25  Cf.  Odum,  p.  184.  ''The  ante-bellum  Negroes  were  noted  for 
their  cheerfulness  and  gaiety.  Their  good  nature  and  amiabihty,  their 
good  sense  of  humor  and  lack  of  resentment  made  their  conduct 
especially  agreeable  to  those  with  whom  they  were  associated.  Almost 
constant  and  pleasing  musings  while  they  were  kept  constantly  at 
work,  were  factors  in  the  Negro's  life  that  kept  him  for  the  most 
part  within  bounds  of  a  remarkable  standard  of  rectitude." — Cf. 
Channing,  W.  E.,  Works,  p.  720. 

20  Pflanserlehen,  pt.  I,  pp.  37-49. 

27  Ibid.,  pp.  70-71. 

28  Ibid. 

189  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

slaves,  notwithstanding  their  animal  passions,  never  descend 
to  the  lowest  grade  of  infamy  Hke  white  or  colored  females  in 
the  North.  They  do  not  even  offer  their  embrace  for  sale  in 
the  disgusting,  shameless  manner  of  the  whites.  Even  in  their 
baseness  there  is  something  natural.  Fickleness,  a  light  heart, 
hot  blood,  the  desire  for  a  new^  ribbon  or  silken  kerchief  are 
their  stimuli,  which  always  keeps  them  above  zero ;  -^for  the 
same  reasons  they  never  ascend  to  the  high  moral  feelings  or 
the  chaste  love  of  the  whites.  Something  brutal  and  instinct- 
like ever  predominates,  preventing  extremes." 

Some  of  their  greatest  weaknesses  are  lying  and  petty 
thieving.  ^°"They  are  never  to  be  trusted  completely — treat 
them  as  ill,  or  as  well,  as  you  will — a  gloomy  trait  in  the 
Negro  character."  As  soon  as  a  storeroom  remains  open  only 
ten  minutes,'"^^  it  is  ravaged  or  emptied.  "They  steal  worse 
than  crows,  and  conceal  the  stolen  goods  whenever  they  can," 
and  when  asked  to  confess  to  the  theft,  they  will  lie  as  long 
as  a  lie  remains  available.^-  Howard  claims  that  the  Negroes 
are  by  nature  malicious, ^^  and  therefore  takes  great  care  to 
keep  them  peaceful,  removing  the  disturbing  elements,  rather 
than  giving  them  numberless  floggings. 

•^***The  best  materials  for  a  durable  and  unfluctuating 
government."  he  says,  ''are  an  unchangeable  degree  of  cool- 
ness and  dignity,  combined  with  the  proper  dose  of  humanity, 
which  leads  us,  not  to  neglect  the  welfare  of  our  blacks  for 
our  own,  and  an  amount  of  wholesome  severity,  which  does 
not  shrink  in  case  of  necessity  from  applying  a  lash  or  two. 
Too  much  tenderness  is  a  fault  in  the  slave  holder ;  with  it,  he 
is  unfit  to  own  slaves,  and  the  latter  are  unfit  for  him.  Tn 
The   Americans, ^^   we   are   told,   that   the   punishment    which 

^''^  Cf.   Odum,   p.    185.     "The   open   lewdness   of   their   women   was 
not  known  in  the  proportion  of  the  present-day  Negro." 

30  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  I,  p.  21. 

31  Ibid.,  p.  87,  145. 
3*-i  Ihid.,  pt.  I,  p.  55. 

33  Ibid.,  p.  104. 

34  Ibid.,  p.  45. 

35  The  Americans,  p.  133. 

190 


NATIONAL  TYPES 

masters  are  allowed  to  inflict  on  the  slaves,  is  a  flogging  of 
thirty-nine  lashes.^^  Howard,  who  is  here  undoubtedly  Seals- 
field's  spokesman,  wishes  for  a  time  when  he  has  no  longer 
to  resort  to  floggings.  ^^" Severity  with  moderation,  and  mild- 
ness void  of  sentimentality,"  he  believes,  "are  the  sure  roads 
by  which  we  may  ultimately  arrive  at  the  point  so  much  to 
be  desired,  viz.,  dispensing  with  the  scourge."  When  this  is 
accomplished,  he  maintains,  the  greatest  evil  in  slavery  will  be 
removed,  for  -"^"slavery  itself  is  not  so  much  an  evil,  as  that 
men,  who  have  escaped  the  pillory,  the  whip  of  the  prison,  and 
the  gallows — men,  born  in  fact  for  white  slaves,  can  un- 
punished, practice  their  mean  malice'  on  the  slaves."  Seals- 
field's  hope  lies  in  humane  treatment  and  in  giving  them  an 
opportunity  to  learn  the  value  of  property  by  actual  posses- 
sion, which  is  "^^"the  surest  road  to  their  civilization  and 
cultivation."  But  at  times,  Howard  seems  to  despair,  for  \vi 
realizes  that  without  punishment  he  is  not  served  as  well  as 
are  tyrants  i"^^  nevertheless,  he  is  resolved  upon  exerting  him- 
self to  the  utmost  in  turning  to  advantage  an  evil  existing 
in  our  society. 

Another  factor  vital  to  the  eventual  emancipation  of  the 
black  race  is  the  education  received  in  schools.  In  Pflanzer- 
lehen,  (pt.  I,  pp.  81-82)  we  hear  of  a  controversy  between 
Creole  planters  on  one  side,  and  more  enlightened  American 
slave  holders  on  the  other.  It  seems  that  the  Creole  tyrant- 
are  holding  a  convention  to  enforce  a  state  law  forbidding 
the  attendance  of  Negroes  in  schools,  and  especially  their  in- 
struction in  reading."^^ 

30  Cf.  American  Slavery,  p.  20.  ''  .  .  .  slaves  arc  whipped  thirty- 
nine  lashes,  and  sometimes  more." 

37  Pflan-crlchcn,  pi.  I,  pp.  102-103. 

38  Ibid.,  pt.  II,  p.  217. 

39  Ibid.,  pt.  I,  p.  75— Cf.  Channing,  Works,  p.  727,  emphasizes  pos- 
session as  a  means  of  elevating  the  Negro  for  the  enjoyment  of 
liberty. 


40 


Pflanzcrleben,  pt.  I,  p.  146. 


'*!  Brown,  David  Paul,  p.  24,  Appendix  C.  quotes  passages  which 
testif}^  to  the  prohibition  against  slaves  receiving  instruction. 

191  ■ 


CHARLES  SEAI.SFIELD 

But  their  life  is  not  all  play  and  joy  even  at  Howard's 
plantation.  *2]y[gn  and  women  go  to  the  cotton  fields  at  sun- 
rise and  work  until  each  has  accomplished  his  task,^^  pensum,, 
which,  during  the  cotton  crop,  for  example,  consists  for  a 
male  of  gathering  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  pounds  of  raw 
cotton  a  day,  and  for  a  female,  from  fifty  to  eighty,  according 
to  strength  and  health.  This  work  is  usually  finished  by  about 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  *^"The  hours  remaining  till  sun- 
down are  at  their  disposal,  and  they  either  hire  their  further 
services  out  to  their  master,  or  devote  these  hours  to  their 
private  affairs.  The  former  is  usually  done  by  the  men  in 
consideration  of  from  eight  to  twelve  cents  per  hour.  The 
women  care  for  the  kitchen  and  field."  '^•^On  Sundays  the 
slaves  are  exempt  from  working  for  their  master.  Many  of 
them,  however,  glean  the  fields  and  gather  a  large  amount  of 
cotton. 

Thus  we  see  that  their  fate  was  sometimes  not  so  la- 
mentable as  described  in  contemporaneous  anti-slavery  litera- 
ture, and  we  can  well  believe  Isling,*^  who  tells  us  of  many 
of  his  slaves  returning  after  being  emancipated.  Still  Seals- 
field  realized  and  appreciated  the  enormity  of  the  evil,  and 
hoped  for  the  day  when  slavery  should  be  abolished.  ^^''Yes, 
happy  are  ye  that  do  not  feel  the  bitterness  of  your  lot ;  ye 
who  have  not  felt  the  horror  of  perpetual  slavery !  Thrice 
happy,  if  fate  permits  you  to  pass  your  days  in  harmless 
ignorance  until  the  coming  of  the  day  which  will  create  you 
free  beings.  Yes,  it  will  come,  this  day,  which  will  enable  us 
to  atone  for  the  sins  of  our  fathers." 

In  part  two  of  Pflanzerlehen  there  is  a  chapter  entitled 
"Debate  on  Slavery."  Here  Sealsfield  attempts  to  remove 
the  blemish  of  having  introduced  slavery  from  the  American 

42  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  I,  p.  7Z. 

43  Cf.  American  Slavery,  p.  18. 

44  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  I,  pp.  73-74. 

45  The  Americans,  p.  132. 

46  Morton,  pt.  I,  p.  65. 

47  George  Howard,  p.  144. 

192  


NATIONAL,  TYPES 

character,  and  at  the  same  time,  justifies  the  holding  of  slaves, 
who  have  been  lawfully  acquired.  His  arguments  represent, 
perhaps,  the  characteristic  mode  of  reasoning  of  more  en- 
lightened slaveholders.  It  is  a  debate  between  American 
planters  and  lately  arrived  Frenchmen.  While  the  French 
newcomers  have  only  been  reasoning  abstractly,  without  a 
knowledge  of  true  conditions,  Richards  begins  his  reasoning 
from  the  historic  point  of  view  : 

*^"  'Do  you  know  in  what  way  we  came  into  possession 
of  our  slaves?'  'The  way  it  was  done  makes  no  difference.' 
'Yes',  rejoined  Richards,  'the  ways  and  means  of  gaining  pos- 
session of  a  property,  designate  the  right  of  holding  it.  That 
you  ought  to  know  as  a  man  of  one  idea'^^  ....  Our  slaves 
have  actually  been  forced  upon  us,'  continues  Richards,  'and 
therefore  we  are  not  in  the  least  responsible  for  the  existence 
of  the  evil  among  us.  Permit  me,  messieurs,  to  show  you 
briefly  and  historically  the  origin  of  slavery  in  the  United 
States.'  "  After  a  discussion  of  Great  Britain's  attempt  to 
create  a  monopoly  for  herself  on  all  imports  into  the  Colonies, 
one  of  which  was  slaves,  he  continues : 

50'^  'One  of  those  permitted  imports,  soon  after  the  co- 
lonies had  attained  some  wealth,  was  the  importation  of 
African  Negro  slaves.  The  first  importation  was  made  by  a 
Holland  vessel  in  1620,'''^  with  consent  of  the  British  govern- 
ment ;  '"'-which,  however,  soon  monopolized  this  whole  com- 
merce, and  permitted  it  only  by  British  vessels  fitted  up  in 
British  ports  and  belonging  to  British  subjects — in  a  word,  it 
became  a  most  perfect  monopoly,''^  the  colonists  did  not  dare 

4«  Pflancerleben,  pt.  II,  p.  132. 

/»  Cf.  Schurz,  Henry  Clay,  v.  II,  p.  70.  "The  old  anti-slavery 
societies  had  continued  a  quiet  existence,  most  of  them  in  the  South, 
without  creating  any  alarm.  Then  appeared  on  the  stage,  with  all  its 
peculiar  strength,  that  formidable  revolutionary  factor  in  human  af- 
fairs, the  man  of  one  idea." 

•^0  Pflanserleben,  pt.  II,  pp.  135  ff. 

^1  It  was  late  in  August,  1619,  when  "A  Dutch  man  of  warre  that 
sold  us  twenty  Negars,"  arrived  in  Jamestown,  Virginia,  as  John  Rolfe 
tells  us.  Du  Bois,  W.  E.  B.,  The  suppression  of  the  African  Slave- 
Trad  e,  p.  17. 

52  This  is  not  true! 

53  Although  England  was  the  chief  slave  trading  nation  (Du  Bois, 

193  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

to  object;  but  they  strongly  opposed  the  importation  of  the 
slaves  themselves. 

"  'It  did  not  escape  them,  that  the  importation  of  these 
black  x\fricans, — who,  like  other  goods  in  the  market,  were 
sold  like  tea,  sugar  or  spices — would  introduce  slavery,  and 
perpetuate  it  in  their  land;  the  arrival  of  the  first  slave-ships, 
therefore,  caused  universal  alarm.  The  colonies  immediately 
came  to  the  conclusion  to  remonstrate  with  the  British  par- 
liament against  this  inhuman  traffic.  They  did  so :  they  begged 
and  prayed  the  Crown  to  relieve  them  of  the  importation  of 
Negroes,  and  the  consequently  inevitable  slavery.^"*  Mas- 
sachusetts,^^ Pennsylvania,^'^'  Maryland,'"'^  and  Virginia^^  did 
so,  and  other  colonies  followed  their  example. 

p.  40)  she  did  not  monopolize  the  trade.  In  fact  some  of  the  first 
slavers  were  fitted  out  and  owned  by  the  colonists,  as  for  example  the 
Treasurer  and  the  Desire  (Spears,  John  R.  The  American  Slave- 
Trade,  pp.  6-7),  and  till  the  middle  of  the  last  century  many  vessels 
were  engaged  in  the  trade.  (Du  Bois,  pp.  27-28,  Spears,  "Appendix 
A"). 

^'^  It  can  hardly  be  said  that  the  Colonies  resisted  the  importation 
of  slaves.  Slavery  was  a  profitable  business,  they  needed  labor,  and  it 
was  only  a  question  whether  black  or  white  labor  would  be  most 
profitable.  (Spears,  p.  13,  91) — It  is  usually  said  that  the  Puritan  mind 
at  first  revolted  at  the  idea  of  slavery,  which  was  then  confined  to 
"lawfull  Captives  taken  in  just  warres  &  such  strangers  as  willingly 
selle  themselves."  (a  law  of  1641,  proving  that  voluntary  slavery  was 
common).  This,  however,  is  not  true,  as  Seidensticker  tells  us  in  Die 
erste  deutsche  Einwandernng,  p.  80. 

55  While  Massachusetts  men  carried  slaves  into  South  Carolina, 
they  passed  a  law  in  1705  raising  duty  on  importation,  but  giving  a 
rebate  of  the  whole  duty  on  re-exportation  (Spears,  p.  12 — Du  Bois, 
pp.  30-31),  thus  encouraging  the  trade  rather  than  buying  with  the 
purpose  of  keeping. 

'"^^'  Du  Bois,  pp.  20-21  says  :  "One  of  the  First  American  protests 
against  the  slave  trade  came  from  certain  German  Friends  in  1688, 
at  a  weekly  meeting  held  in  Germantown,  Pennsylvania."  Seiden- 
sticker tells  us  of  the  meeting,  translates  the  protest  signed  by  Hen- 
dricks, Pastorius,  Dirk  and  Abraham  Op  den  Graeff,  and  follows  up 
this  document  through  the  monthly,  quarter-annual,  and  annual  meet- 
ings, which  refused  to  take  action.— (Cf.  Bettle,  E.,  Notices  on  Negro 
Slavery,  pp.  364-365).  In  1712  the  Puritans  passed  an  "Act  to  prevent 
the  importation  of  Negroes  and  Indians,"  the  first  enactment  of  its 
kind  in  America  (Du  Bois,  p.  22). 

•''''  Maryland  was  never  over-burdened  with  slaves,  and  prohibitive 
duties,  which  in  1771  w'cre  raised  to  £9,  finallv  abolished  the  trade. 
(Du  Bois,  pp.  14-15). 

58  Virginia,  too,  laid  heavy  duties  upon  importation  to  lessen  the 

194  ■ 


NATIONAL  TYPES 

'*  'To  give  you  an  idea  of  the  earnestness  of  these  pro- 
testations, and  the  desperate  perseverence  of  the  petitioners, 
it  will  suffice  to  allude  to  the  example  of  Georgia.  Th'S 
colony  was  the  youngest,  and  last  of  the  great  settlements 
established  under  the  English  government.  The  foundation 
falls  within  the  last  deceniums  of  the  first  half  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century  (1733),  a  period  when  the  barbarism  of  the 
middle  ages  had  already  been  dispelled  by  the  light  of  civiliza- 
tion ;  and  statesmen  had  begun  to  assume  more  humane  prin- 
ciples. The  excellent  Oglethorpe  was  the  founder  and  first 
governor.  Hardly  had  the  colony  been  formed,  when  British 
slavers  appeared  in  the  ports  of  Georgia,  and  opened  their 
market  with  the  sanction  of  the  British  government.  It  was 
in  vain  that  the  governor  and  the  council  protested — it  was  a 
right  of  the  Crown  to  designate  what  articles  might  be  im- 
ported; the  interest  of  British  commerce,  it  was  contended, 
required  the  protection  of  a  branch  of  trade  in  which  so 
many  ships  were  employed — the  weal  of  the  colonies  was  only 
a  secondary  consideration.  The  petitions  of  the  colonists, 
the  governor,  and  the  council  were  refused.  The  first  failure 
did  not  frighten  them  from  a  renewal  of  their  prayers;  they 
petitioned  more  urgently,  eight  or  ten  times  successively,  as 
the  government  acts  of  the  colonies  w^ill  show.  The  final 
answer  to  their  indefatigable  remonstrances  was,  that  the 
governor  was  discharged,'"'^  the  council  dissolved  with  a  strong 
reproof,  and  the  slave  trade  continued  even  more  vigorously 
than  it  had  been  before. "®° 

slave  trade.  In  1772  the  Burgesses  petitioned  the  King  to  "check  so 
pernicious  a  commerce."  When  in  1776  a  Frame  of  Government 
was  adopted,  the  King  was  assailed  for  encouraging  the  trade.  (Du 
Bois,   pp.    13-14). 

5'^  He  returned  to  England  on  his  own  accord  in  1743,  where 
he  became  a  coadjutor  of  Granville  Sharp  (Goodell,  VV.,  Slavery 
and  Anti-slavery,  p.  21.) 

G^  Oglethorpe,  although  himself  Deputy  Governor  of  the  Royal 
African  Company,  and  the  Trustees  of  Georgia  forbade  the  introduc- 
tion of  slaves  when  the  colony  was  founded.  But  the  colonists  did 
not  cease  to  clamor  for  the  repeal  of  these  restrictions,  until  in  1749, 
they  were  successful  and  forced  a  limited  importation.  "In  Georgia 
we  have  an  example  of  a  community  whose  philanthropic  founders 
sought  to  impose  upon  it  a  code  of  morals  higher  than  the  colonists 
wished."      (Du   Bois,  pp.  6-7 — Spears,  pp.  95-97.) 

195  — 


CHARI.es  SEAI.SFIEI.D 

"  'The  bad  success  of  Georgia  did  not  frighten  the  other 
colonies  from  the  renewal  of  their  petitions.  They  petitioned 
and  prayed,  and  the  more  fervently  as  the  evil  became  greater. 
In  the  northern  colonies,  they  laid  every  obstacle  in  their 
power  in  the  way  of  the  importation  and  sale  of  slaves;  but 
in  the  southern,  where  the  constitution  was  less  liberal,  and 
gave  to  the  governors  appointed  by  the  Crown  more  power, 
the  slaves  were  positively  forced  upon  the  colonists.  *^^The 
evil  was  so  universally  and  deeply  felt,  that  even  this  slave- 
trade  became  one  of  the  leading  causes  which  finally  led  to 
our  revolution. 

*'  'So  you  find  in  the  original  sketch  of  our  Declaration  of 
Independence — drawn  by  Jefferson,  Adams,  Livingston,  Sher- 
man, and  Franklin,  and  composed  by  Jefferson — an  article, 
which,  among  the  many  other  grievances  which  forced  the 
colonists  to  take  up  arms,  and  to  cast  off  the  British  yoke, 
mentions  also : 

"  'That  England  has  torn  a  strange  people  from  their 
homes,  transported  them  over  wide  seas,  sold  them  in  the 
North  American  colonies  for  slaves,  and  thus  with  strange 
people,  a  strange  race,  has  opened  a  bloody  market — yes,  that 
she  had  not  hesitated  even  to  encourage  these  slaves,  sold  by 
her  own  sanction  as  such  to  the  colonists,  to  a  revolt  against 
their  masters  and  proprietors'." 

This  little  paragraph  the  author  supplements  with  a  foot- 
note, in  which  he  has  translated  into  German  the  following 
passage : 

"  'He  has  waged  cruel  war  against  human  nature  itself, 
violating  its  most  sacred  rights  of  life  and  liberty  in  the 
persons  of  a  distant  people  who  never  offended  him,  cap- 
tivating and  carrying  them  into  slavery  in  another  hemisphere, 
or  to  incur  miserable  death  in  their  transportation  thither. 
This  piratical  warfare,  the  opprobrium  of  infidel  powers  is 
the  warfare  of  the  Christian  King  of  Great  Britain.  Deter- 
mined to  keep  open  a  market  where  men  should  be  bought 

61  "The    assertion    that    the    British    forced    the    traffic    on    un- 
willing colonists   in   America   is    a  puling  whine."      Spears,   p.   97. 

196  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

and  sold,  he  has  prostituted  his  negative  for  surpressing  every 
legislative  attempt  to  prohibit  or  to  restrain  his  execrable  com- 
merce. And  that  this  assemblage  of  horrors  might  want  no 
fact  of  distinguished  dye,  he  is  now  exciting  those  very  people 
to  rise  in  arms  among  us,  and  to  purchase  that  liberty  of  which 
he  has  deprived  them,  by  murdering  the  people  upon 
whom  he  has  obtruded  them:  Thus  paying  off  former 
crimes  constituted  against  the  I^iberties  of  one  people,  with 
crimes  which  he  urges  them  to  commit  against  the  Lives  of 
another.'     See  Acts  of  Congress  of  1776."^^ 

And  now  the  text  goes  on :  "  'This  article',  continued 
Richards,  'has  certainly  been  omitted  in  the  publication  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  at  the  request  of  some  delegates 
from  the  southern  colonies,^^  who  in  the  debates  had  declared 
their  doubts  of  its  expediency;  and  as  universal  agreement 
in  so  important  a  document  naturally  took  precedence  over  all 
other  considerations.  But  the  disgust  at  this  inconsiderate 
barbarism  of  the  government  was  expressed  no  less  loud  in 
the  southern,  than  in  the  northern  colonies. 

"  'The  colonies,  even  before  the  hostilities  against  Great 
Britain  commenced,  began  to  take  measures  to  stop  this  in- 
human trade.  The  so-called  Continental  Congress  of  Philadel- 
phia, assembled  in  the  year  1774,  passed  the  unanimous  resolu- 
tion that  from  the  beginning  of  December  of  the  same  year, 
no  slave  should  be  imported  or  exposed  for  sale.^*  The  same 
resolution  has  been  previously  passed  by  the  colonial  As- 
semblies of  i^ew  York^^  and  Delaware. ^'^     That  these  resolu- 

G2  Jefferson,  Writings,  v.  I,  pp.  34-35 — Jeffersonian  Cyclopedia, 
p.  813,  No.  7944. 

03  "This  clause,"  says  Jefferson  in  his  Autobiography  (I,  19), 
"was  struck  out  in  complaicence  to  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  .  .  ." 
who  have  never  attempted  to  restrain  the  importation  of  slaves. 

^'^  Cf.  Spears,  p.  105.  "When  the  colonists  united  to  oppose 
British  oppression,  the  talk  about  slavery  and  slaves,  which  had 
reference  to  their  own  condition,  turned  their  thoughts  to  the  un- 
fortunate Negro  slaves,  and  on  Tuesday,  October  20,  1774,  they 
signed  an  agreement  that  they  would  not  purchase  any  slaves  im- 
ported after  the  first  day  of  December  next." 

65  New  York  forbade  it  in   1785    (Du  Bois,  p.   11.) 

GO  The  first  legislation  in  Delaware  we  find  in  1775,  but  the 
governor   vetoed   the  bill. 

197  • 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

tions  did  not  have  the  deserved  success,  must  alone  be  ascribed 
to  the  inevitable  discord  which  followed  ours,  as  well  as  every 
other  Revolution. 

"  'It  would  have  been  desirable,  if  the  fifty-two  framers 
of  this  immortal  monument  of  political  wisdom,  had  also  in- 
vested the  central  government  with  power  to  dispose  of  this 
slave  question.  But  this  was  not  done,  and  could  not  be  done ; 
because  the  several  States,  enjoying  now  the  full  use  of  their 
civil  and  political  rights,  considered  the  slave  question  a  ques- 
tion of  property.  A  majority  of  them  were  now  really  slave 
holders,  and  only  in  the  New  England  States,  where  slavery 
had  never  taken  much  root,  had  it  been  abolished  during  the 
interim  of  1787  to  1789.^^  A  majority  of  the  voices  in  Con- 
gress were  in  possession  of  the  southern  slave-holding  States, 
who,  gradually  accustomed  to  the  evil,  were  the  more  un- 
willing to  abolish  it,  as  they  had  invested  a  large  part  of 
their  property  in  the  purchase  of  their  slaves.  And  if  you  con- 
sider the  difficulties  which  had  to  be  overcome,  before  a  strong 
and  efficient  general  government  could  be  formed — difficulties 
the  greater,  as  every  State  was  unwilling  to  sacrifice  more  of 
its  sovereign  rights  than  was  absolutely  necessary,  and  that, 
thereby,  the  hands  of  the  great  framers  of  the  constitution, 
Washington,  Jefferson,  Franklin,  Adams,  Hamilton,  Morris, 
were  iji  a  measure  tied,  then  you  will  easily  understand,  how 
even  these  great  and  wise  statesmen  had  to  yield  in  this,  as 
in  many  other  points,  lest  they  should  injure  the  great  life- 
principle  of  the  rising  States ;  for  the  question  was,  whether 
the  delivered  colonies  should  become  thirteen  small  disunited 
republics,  or  one  great,  powerful  Union.  But  even  this  con- 
vention did  not  wholly  forget  the  slave  question;  Nay,  more 
was  done  in  it,  than  in  all  the  governments  of  Europe  of  that 

^'^  We  must  distinguish  between  slave  holding  and  slave  trade. 
It  is  the  latter  which  was  then  abolished.  New  Hampshire,  1784; 
Rhode  Island,  1787;  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  1788.  The  same 
was  also  done  by  New  Jersey,  1786;  by  Maryland  after  1769;  Pennsyl- 
vania, act  for  gradual  abolition,  1780,  and  participation  in  trade 
outside  of  state,  1768;  Delaware,  1787;  Vermont,  1787;  New  York, 
1785;  Virginia,  legal  importation,  1788.  Although  abolished  de  juris, 
most  states,  especially  New  England,  carried  on  a  large  traffic  much 
later.      (Du   Bois,  p.  85.) 

198  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

time  put  together.  A  bill  was  passed,  which  subsequently 
became  a  law,  to  the  effect  that,  although  the  possession  of 
slaves,  as  it  had  been  guaranteed  to  the  slave-holding  States 
by  the  Crown  of  England,  should  for  the  future  be  secured  to 
them,  so  that  also,  the  solution  of  this  difficult  question  should 
remain  with  them ;  yet  that  the  slave-trade  should  cease  within 
the  certain  limit  of  seventeen  years,^^  and  for  ever ;  and  that 
every  American  citizen,  found  after  that  time  engaged  in  the 
slave-trade,  should  be  regarded  and  punished  as  a  pirate. 
This  was  done  while  England  and  the  other  governments  had 
scarce  thought  of  the  inhumanity  of  the  slave-trade'."^^ 

So  much  for  the  introduction  of  slavery,  restrictions  of 
the  trade,  and  legislation  for  its  abolition,  which  as  shown  In 
the  footnotes  is  not  always  based  upon  facts.  Undoubtedly 
Sealsffeld  wanted  the  trade  abolished,  and  more  than  that: 
although  he  himself  was  probably  a  slave  holder,  he  wished 
for  the  time  when  emancipation  would  be  possible  and  ad- 
visable. He  conceived  the  evil  in  its  entire  magnitude,  but  he 
realized  also  the  difficulties  that  would  result  from  too  hasty 
action.     The  following  words  will  prove  this: 

"  'None  of  us  deny  it  is  an  evil,  and  an  evil  which 
operates  against  us  in  more  than  one  way ;  that  it  is  a  mis- 
fortune to  our  social  life,  and  that  a  radical  cure  is  absolutely 
necessary;  but  that  this  can  only  proceed  gradually,  and  by 
degrees,  no  one,  who  has  the  least  candor  or  understanding, 
will  pretent  to  deny. 

**  'You  have  already  wasted  more  than  twelve  centuries 
in  Europe,  in  endeavors  to  emancipate  your  white  slaves,  and 
the  task  is  not  accomplished ;  and  these  are  the  descendants 

♦'^'^  This  would  make  it  1804,  whereas,  Article  I,  Section  9  of  the 
Federal  Convention  of  1787,  reads:  "...  shall  not  be  prohibited 
by  Congress  prior  to  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight." 

<5»  The  first  motion  was  introduced  in  Parliament  in  1776,  and 
the  first  bill  to  regulate  the  slave  trade  was  read  in  1783;  in  the 
nineties  several  bills  passed  in  the  House  of  Commons,  but  failed  in 
the  House  of  Lords.  But  a  bill  finally  passed  both  Houses  in  1806 
(receiving  the  King's  signature  in  1807),  which  forbade  the  clearing 
of  Enghsh  slavers,  and  the  landing  of  slaves  in  the  Colonies  by 
March  1807   (Spears,  pp.   106-116). 

199  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

of  men,  who  have  been  deprived  by  their  ancestors  of  their 
Hberty,  property  and  civil  rights,  to  whom,  consequently,  they 
owe  restitution.  With  us  the  case  is  different — nay,  the  world 
does  not  present  an  analogous  case.  This  case  is  really  a 
monstrous  one,  at  the  contemplation  of  which  your  reason 
may  be  startled.  To  comprehend  it  only  in  a  measure,  you 
must  recollect  that  Great  Britain  has  to  its  twenty-four  mil- 
lions of  inhabitants  and  its  hundred  and  twenty  millions  of 
foreign  subjects  not  over  eight  hundred  thousand  slaves  in  its 
West  Indian  domains.  France,  to  its  thirty-two  millions,  not 
three  hundred  thousand  on  Martinique  and  other  islands. 
Both  governments  might  buy  or  set  free  their  slaves  this  day 
without  doing  any  serious  injury  to  their  subjects; — they  live 
thousands  of  miles  from  them  and  come  into  no  collision  wnth 
them.  With  us  the  case  is  different.  We  have  nearly  two 
and  a  half  millions  of  slaves  to  a  population  of  four  mil- 
lions, and  if  you  count  the  whole  Union,  of  fifteen  millins. 
Just  imagine  one  of  the  European  governments  of  seventeen 
millions  of  inhabitants  with  such  a  mass  of  strange  blood 
forced  upon  them  as  slaves.  Can  you  set  them  free  at  once, 
or  put  them  on  the  same  footing  with  yourselves,  or  grant  them 
the  equal  rights  of  citizens?'  " 

When  finally  reproached  with  the  fact  that  even  after 
emancipation,  the  Negro  does  not  enjoy  the  same  rights,  nor 
occupy  a  position  in  society  beside  his  white  neighbor, 
Richards  replies :  "  *I  have  never  heard  of  any  civilized  people 
among  whom  illegitimate  children  have  the  same  rights  as 
lawful  children,  some  solitary  cases  excepted'."  And  a  little 
later  he  explains  his  stand  on  the  question  of  emancipation 
with  the  following  words : 

"  'The  case  with  our  blacks,  is  really  a  hard  and  an  un- 
happy one;  even  harder  than  that  of  the  white  serfs  m 
Europe.  These,  descending  like  their  masters  from  the 
Caucasian  race,  can  more  easily  be  admitted  into  the  same 
rank  as  soon  as  they  have  reached  the  necessary  degree  of 
civilization — it  is  very  questionable  whether  it  will   ever  be 

200  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

good  or  practicable  with  our  colored  population.  Theirs  is 
another  blood,  a  blood  which  in  hot  climates  passes  into  boil- 
ing heat,  and  will  boil  up  on  every  occasion.  This  the  nation 
feels  deeply,  and  hence  our  refusal  to  take  the  exotic  race 
among  us.  About  matrimonial  ties,  or  the  so-called  amal- 
gamation, I  must  say  frankly,  that,  were  the  disgust  against 
it  less,  I  could  not  possibly  respect  the  people  of  the  United 
States  so  highly  as  I  think  we  have  good  reason  to  do  at 
present'." 


201 


Chapter  VL 
THE  GERMAN  ELEMENT. 

In  the  introduction  to  the  present  study  it  was  pointed 
out  that  Sealsfield  always  spoke  of  himself  as  an  American, 
referring  to  the  United  States  as  his  country  even  in  letters 
to  his  acquaintances,  written  in  Switzerland.  Moreover,  it 
should  also  be  remembered  that  the  author  had  fled  from 
Austria  pursued  by  police  authorities,  and  that  the  identity  of 
Charles  Sealsfield  with  the  missing  Karl  Postl  was  only  dis- 
covered through  his  will  in  1864,  To  keep  the  secret  of  his 
identity  concealed,  and  to  prevent  detection,  he  wove  an  air  of 
mystery  about  himself.  He  had  only  a  limited  number  of 
friends,  but  even  these  knew  nothing  of  his  antecedents.  He 
also  refrained  most  carefully  from  alluding  in  his  works  to 
his  German-Austrian  birth.  In  fact  it  seems  quite  probable 
that  his  desire  to  mystify  his  readers  and  critics  carried  him 
so  far  as  to  limit  his  references  to  the  German-American 
population  of  this  country  purposely  and  as  much  as  possible, 
at  least  in  his  early  novels.  When  he  does,  however,  picture 
the  German  element  he  makes  it  quite  evident  that  he  is  not 
partial  to  his  own  race.  His  descriptions  of  some  of  the 
German  emigrants  are,  on  the  contrary,  anything  but  flattering 
to  the  German  people.  Only  toward  the  close  of  his  life  his 
attitude  in  this  respect  changes,  as  is  shown  by  his  novel 
Deiitsch-Anierikanischc  Wahlverwandtschaften. 

Chapter  II  in  part  I  of  Morton,  which  is  entitled  "Dir 
deutschen  Bmujranten/'  furnishes  a  significant  illustration  of 
how  our  author  viewed  German  emigrant  life  during  the  third 
decade  of  last  century.     Young  Morton  had  risked  his  entire 

202  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

fortune  on  board  the  schooner  Mary.  After  this  ship,  to- 
gether with  its  uninsured  cargo,  was  lost  at  sea,  Morton,  in 
despair,  mounted  his  horse  and  rode  up  the  Susquehanna  with 
the  intention  of  committing  suicide.  A  little  above  Harris- 
burg,  he  halted  near  a  precipitous  bank  to  settle  accounts  w^ith 
his  Creator,  when  he  was  disturbed  by  a  family  of  immigrants. 
''At  first  glance  one  could  notice  that  they  were  children  of 
the  unfortunate  country,  who  for  many  years  seemed  to  have 
been  destined  to  fertilize  the  earth  with  their  blood,  and  to 
disgust  the  world  with  their  nakedness  and  their  misery,  one 
of  those  pictures  of  servile  subjection,  such  as  we  often  have 
an  opportunity  of  seeing  on  the  wharves  of  our  coast  cities  .  ." 
They  sat  down  to  eat  a  bite,  and  while  Morton  watched  them 
devour  cold  potatoes  and  bread,  he  heard  the  trotting  of  a 
horse.  It  was  Colonel  Isling,  the  county  judge,  and  a  German- 
American  himself,  who  approached,  and  seeing  these  un- 
fortunates, remarked  to  Morton  with  a  significant  look : 
^"German  emigrants."  The  latter  ground  his  teeth,  and  his 
compressed  lips  seemed  to  ask :  "What  do  they  want  in  our 
country?" 

Husband  and  wife,  who  had  looked  at  each  other  timidly 
during  this  short  conversation,  now  advanced  a  step,  hesitated, 
and  then  stood  silently  and  devoutly — the  man  with  a  piece 
of  bread  in  his  hand.  Morton's  horse  stretched  its  neck  for 
the  bread,  and  the  good  German,  although  he  had  not  enough 
for  himself,  gave  it  to  the  animal.  Morton  indignantly 
scolded  the  horse,  whereupon  the  poor  German  gave  him  a 
look  which  caused  him  to  cast  his  eyes  to  the  ground.  "It 
was  the  most  stupid,  and  again  the  most  significant  look — a 
look  in  which  the  concentrated  agony  of  a  whole  nation  was 
reflected,  and  also  the  blows,  the  contempt,  and  the  kicks  from 
friend,  stranger,  master,  and  all."  And  then  Isling  continues : 
"A  poor  devil  of  a  German,  who  escaped  the  misery  of  his 
caste  in  his  country  to  find  a  better  future."  In  spite  of  the 
wretched  condition  of  the  newcomer,  Isling  laments  the  fact 
that  only  Germany  sends   forth  such  people,   for  he  knows, 

1  Morton,  pt.  I,  p.  53ff. 

203  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

that  they  will  become  good  and  worthy  citizens.  Then  he 
tells  Morton  of  the  oppression  under  which  these  people  suffer 
in  Germany,  how  this  man  had  sold  all  his  possessions  and 
come  to  Philadelphia  with  his  family,  penniless.  After  ob- 
taining some  aid  from  a  German  auxiliary  society,^  the  man 
bought  a  wheelbarrow  and  is  now  on  his  way  to  Ohio,  begging 
his  way  to  his  destination.  The  money  which  he  receives,  and 
which  will  probably  amount  to  about  a  hundred  dollars,  will 
enable  him  to  buy  fifty  acres  of  land  and  some  necessaries, 
and  in  several  years  he  will  prosper  and  will  be  a  worthy 
citizen  of  our  Union.  ^"  'Many  of  his  countrymen  were  worse 
off',  he  continued  after  a  pause,  for  they  used  to  be  sold  as 
temporary  slaves  or  redemptioners ;  but  I  believe  the  country 
derived  more  benefit  from  the  former  Germans  than  from 
those  of  today.  At  least  I  do  not  remember  having  ever  seen 
one  of  these  old  Germans  begging.  They  earned  their  living 
by  hard  labor,  whereas  the  present  day  Germans  seem  to  urge 
their  shame  and  nakedness  upon  the  whole  world.  It  is 
really  a  sore  spot  in  that  nation.  What  would  the  German 
people  say  if  such  folk  came  to  their  country  from  the  United 
States  .  .  .   !" 

"  'But  the  ways  of  providence  are  wonderful,  and  per- 
haps the  day  will  come  when  his  former  Prince,  'The  God  on 
Earth',  whose  splendor  this  poor  fellow  could  no  longer  en- 
large through  servile  duties — or  his  children,  will  come  in  the 
same  miserable  condition  to  the  door  of  this  poor  man.  Lots 
of  this  sort  have  not  seldom  fallen  in  the  wheel  of  fortune  in 
our  disastrous  times !" 

Isling  then  goes  on  to  tell  of  a  personal  experience  with 
a  redemptioner.    "  'It  was  at  the  eleventh  hour*  of  the  redemp- 

2  Sealsfield  has  the  footnote,  p.  56.  "A  foundation  for  the  aid 
of  needy  German  immigrants.  Its  officers  are  mostly  native  Amer- 
icans, yet  Germans  living  in  Philadelphia  contribute  too. 

3  Morton,  pt.  I,  pp.  57-58. 

4  As  the  pernicious  redemptioner  system  practically  received  its 
death  blow  by  the  federal  act  of  1819  regulating  passenger  ships 
and  vessels,  Isling's  experience  is  supposed  to  have  occurred  shortly 
before  this  year. 

204 


NATIONAL  TYPES 

tioner  abuse  ....  I  was  in  Philadelphia,  where  an  entire  ship 
load  of  such  people  was  auctioned  off  by  the  Captain ;  amongst 
others,  a  family  which  consisted  of  two  grown  boys,  a  girl 
and  their  parents.'  "  What  Isling  here  is  referring  to  was  the 
so-called  redemptioner  system,  a  sort  of  bondage  or  slavery, 
which,  for  a  long  time,  was  sanctioned  by  law.  Not  only 
poor  German  immigrants  were  sold  as  redemptioners,  in  order 
to  reimburse  the  ship  owners  for  the  cost  of  their  transporta- 
tion, but  destitute  English,  Scotch  and  Irish  newcomers  as 
well.  The  Germans  of  this  country,  however,  were  the  fir«;t 
inhabitants  who  united  against  the  criminal  abuses  con- 
nected with  this  system.  The  agents  of  English  and  American 
land  companies,  who,  by  extravagant  promises  and  delusive 
representations,  lured  thousands  of  poor  people  to  America  in 
order  frequently  to  defraud  them  on  their  arrival,  were 
criminals,  no  less  than  the  captains  of  the  ships  who  under 
false  pretenses  persuaded  the  unfortunates  to  sign  contracts 
which  in  some  cases,  they  could  not  read.  The  first  legislation, 
enacted  in  Maryland  in  1685,  fixed  the  legal  term  of  servitude 
at  four  years,  but  in  1715,  the  time  was  raised  to  between 
five  and  seven  years,  and  in  case  of  children  to  the  age  of 
their  majority.  In  several  cities  benevolent  societies,  such 
as  the  Deutsche  Gesellschaft  von  Pennsylvanien,  were  organ- 
ized^ for  the  purpose  of  aiding  and  protecting  the  defenseless 
immigrants.  They  investigated  cases  of  insufficient  or  bad 
food,  and  ravaging  disease  on  board  the  ships,  which  at  times, 
caused  the  death  of  more  than  half  the  passengers.®  The 
survivors  were  frequently  sold  at  a  price  to  make  up  for  this 
loss  of  human  cargo.  Furthermore,  cases  of  cruelty,  not  only 
on  ship  board,  but  on  the  part  of  American  slave-holders,  were 
reported  and  investigated,  and  everything  possible  was  done 
to  alleviate  the  lot  of  their  unfortunate  countrymen.  Finally, 
it  was  due  to  the  combined  efforts  of  this  Philadelphia  society 
and  of  Baron  von  Fiirstenwarther,  a  commissioner  sent  to 
America  by  H.  C.  E.  von  Gagern,  to  report  on  immigration 

•^  Korner,  Gnstav,  Das  dcutsche  Blement,  p.  22ff. 
6  Henning-hausen,  Louis  P.,  Geschichte  der  deutschen  Gesellschaft 
von  Maryland. 

205  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

conditions,  that  the  federal  legislation  already  referred  to,  was 
enacted  in  1819.^ 

That  Sealsfield  did  not  know  or  fully  realize  the  dread- 
ful conditions  under  which  most  of  his  compatriots  reached 
this  country  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  he  relates  without  com- 
punction how  Isling  at  the  auction  in  Philadelphia  bought  the 
head  of  one  family,  how  a  neighbor  took  the  wife  and 
daughter,  and  other  people  of  the  county  the  sons.  They  were 
to  serve  for  five  years.  Simon  Martin,  for  this  was  the  man's 
name,  carried  with  him  a  bundle  of  rags,  which  sent  forth 
such  odors  that  no  one  could  go  near  him.  When  the  Colonel 
objected,  Martin  begged  so  fervently  to  be  permitted  to  keep 
it,  that  Isling  consented.  He  was  given  a  vacant  Negro  hut, 
where  he  lived  in  solitude  like  a  leper.  Isling  was  well  pleased 
with  him,  "he  worked  diligently  and  prudently,  he  understood 
husbandry  thoroughly,  and  although  slow  showed  himself  ef- 
ficient." 

To  illustrate  the  thrift  and  the  cunning  of  this  immigrant, 
Sealsfield  relates  how  one  day,  shortly  before  his  redemp- 
tioner  was  to  gain  his  freedom,  he  asked  permission  to  go  to 
a  sheriflf  land  sale  in  Harrisburg,  just  to  look  around  a  little, 
as  he  said.  He  came  back  the  same  night  and  worked  the 
next  day  as  usual.  A  few  days  later  an  acquaintance  of  Isling 
came  to  congratulate  him  on  the  good  bargain  he  had  struck 
at  the  auction.  Martin  was  called  and  asked  to  explain.  It 
was  found  that  he  had  bought  the  farm  for  himself,  but  since 
he  lacked  a  little  over  a  week  of  being  a  citizen  and  since  as  a 
redemptioner,  he  was  not  sui  juris,  he  had  bought  the  farm 
in  the  name  of  Colonel  Isling.  When  asked  how  he  expected 
to  pay  for  three  hundred  acres  of  land,  he  took  the  two  men 

'[  See  Max  J.  Kohler's  article :  An  important  European  com- 
mission  to  investigate  American  im-niigration  conditions,  Jahrbuch  der 
deiitsch-amerikanischen  historischen  Gesellschaft  von  Illinois,  v.  XVII, 
p.  393ff.  Also  Moritz  von  Furstenwarther,  Der  Deutsche  in  Nord- 
Amerika,  p.  416ff.  of  the  same  volume.  For  a  more  detailed  ac- 
count of  the  frightful  conditions  on  emigrant  ships,  the  activities  of 
the  land  sharks,  etc.,  see  F.  Hermann,  Die  Deutschen  in  Nordamerika, 
1806,  and  Ludwig  Gall,  Meine  Ausivanderung  nach  den  Vereinigten 
Staaien,  1822. 

206  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

to  his  hut,  opened  his  bundle  and  took  out  a  little  sack,  out 
of  which  rolled  eleven  hundred  gold  pieces.  Martin  went  on 
to  explain  that  if  he  had  bought  a  farm  upon  his  arrival  he 
would  certainly  have  been  cheated.  "Now,"  he  said,  "I  have 
not  only  my  journey  to  America,  but  also  the  experience  free, 
which  I  gained  here."^  Isling,  seeing  himself  outwitted,  was 
disgusted  with  the  man.  "But  thus  are  the  present  day  im- 
migrants from  that  country,"  he  reflected,  "a  peculiar  mixture 
of  honesty  and  baseness,  of  sound  reason  and  absolute  de 
pravity." 

In  Isling  himself,  Sealsfield  portrays  a  German  of  the 
older  generation.  We  are  told  that  he  came  to  the  United 
States  as  a  lieutenant  in  a  Hessian  regiment  of  infantry,  that 
he  was  taken  prisoner  at  Trenton  and  later  entered  the  revolu- 
tionary army.  Now  he  lives  as  a  county  judge  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  loves  his  country,  and  above  all,  his  state,  for  he 
has  seen  it  develop  to  a  wonderful  height.  He  prospered  with 
the  state  and  became  happy  in  the  circle  of  his  family.  Plis 
wife  seems  to  have  been  of  English  parentage,  and  thus  we 
fmd  the  most  wonderful  and  ideal  fusion  in  his  daughter,  "a 
tender  attractive  girl,  in  whose  regular  beautiful  features,  old 
English  nobility,  German  GemiitUchkeit,  and  American  reason 
were  united  in  rare  harmony." 

It  may  be  in  place  here  to  add  that  Sealsfield  was  of  the 
opinion  that  the  Germans  who  came  to  this  country  should 
learn  the  English  language  as  fast  as  they  could,  and  should 
mix  with  their  Anglo-American  neighbors.^ 

How  highly  Sealsfield  valued  the  share  of  the  Germans 
in  the  development  and  the  civilization  of  this  country  may 

8  Cf.  Jefferson,  Writings,  v.  IV,  p.  159.  "...  it  was  very  frequent 
for  foreigners  who  carried  to  America  money  enough,  not  only  to 
pay  their  passage,  but  to  buy  themselves  a  farm,  it  was  common,  I 
say,  for  them  to  indent  themselves  to  a  master  for  three  years,  for 
a  certain  sum  of  money,  with  the  view  to  learn  the  husbandry  of 
the  country." 

»  Die  Vereinigten  Staaien,  v.  I,  pp.  73-74— Cf.  Lieber,  The 
Stranger  in  America,  p.  59,  "You  can  judge  from  what  I  have  said 
how  vahiable  German  immigrants  are  to  our  country,  if  they  mingle 
with  the  Anglo-American  race.  'They  are  sober,  industrious,  and 
excellent  farmers',  is  the  universal  belief  given  of  them." 

207  


CHARLES  SEALSFIEIvD 

be  gathered  from  the  remarks  which  IsHng  makes  while  ac- 
companying Morton  to  Bethlehem.  Passing  through  a  w^on- 
derful  stretch  of  country  studded  with  flourishing  farms  and 
prospering  towns,  he  says :  ^^"These  thousands  of  cottages, 
these  towns  and  yeoman  seats,  I  knew  when  they  were  still 
woods  and  wilderness  into  which  now  and  then  a  hut  had 
nestled.  These  huts  were  inhabited  by  poor  German  redemp- 
tioners,  who  had  served  out  their  time,  and  were  now  tilling 
a  piece  of  land  of  their  own.  They  were  miserably  poor 
people  who  could  not  pay  for  their  passage  and  were  sold  for 
the  price  of  it  .  .  .  Their  masters  whom  they  had  faithfully 
served,  helped  them  along,  and  at  once  they  began  to  till  the 
soil  themselves.  But  had  they  received  a  thousand  times 
more  aid,  it  would  not  have  helped  them  in  an  autocratic 
country.  Only  in  a  land  where  everyone  is  entirely  free,  and 
can  use  the  fruits  of  his  toil  for  his  own  benefit,  only  there 
one  can  work  with  joy.  And  these  Germans  did  work  with 
joy.  They  toiled  and  toiled,  and  the  fruits  of  their  labor  were 
blessed  ....  They  became  free  citizens  of  the  state;  not  only 
citizens,  but  participants  in  the  sovereign  power  of  the  state ; 
mdeed  not  only  participants  but  actual  lawmakers  and  rulers. 
The  grandfather  of  my  son-in-law,  a  member  of  Congress, 
once  was  such  a  redemptioner,  and  his  grandson  married 
the  daughter  of  a  German  baron  ....  Young  man!  In  this 
change  there  is  something  great,  elevating,  something,  which 
the  book  of  history  cannot  show  twice."  Indeed  Dr.  Helmuth, 
the  eminent  divine,  could  well  exclaim  in  his  famous  address 
to  the  Pennsylvania  Germans  in  1813:  "We  have  made  the 
middle  states  jewels  of  the  Union,  the  granary  of  our  con- 
tinent. The  Germans  have  in  every  respect  been  the  greatest 
blessing  that  has  been  bestowed  upon  America. "^^ 

Before  Isling  parts  from  Morton  he  gives  him  a  letter  of 
mtroduction  to  Stephen  Girard,  who  is  to  help  him  out  of  his 
financial  difficulties,  and  finally  leaves  him  with  the  significant 
words :     "And  if  you  ever  meet  a  poor  immigrant  again  such 

10  Morton,  pt.  I,  pp.  128-130. 

11  Brauns,  Ratschldge  und  Belehrungen,  p.  380ff. 

208  


NATIONAI,  TYPES 

as  the  one  we  saw  yesterday,  give  him  a  friendly  look   for 
old  Colonel  Isling's  sake."^- 

In  his  novel  Die  deutsch-amerikaniscken  W ahlverwandt- 
schaften  Sealsfield,  no  doubt,  had  intended  to  portray  German 
and  American  traits  in  such  a  v/ay  as  to  account  for  the 
mutual  attraction,  the  "elective  affinity,"  of  the  principal  cha- 
racters of  the  story,  representatives  of  both  nations,  whom  he 
wanted  to  unite :  Harry  Rambleton  with  I^uitgard  von  Schoch- 
stein,  and  Baron  Wilhelm  von  Schochstein  with  Dougaldine 
Ramble.  But  the  novel,  though  running  to  the  length  of 
fourteen  hundred  pages  remained  a  torso,  and  the  author's 
original  plan  was  not  realized.  This  is  to  be  regretted  since 
the  amalgamation  of  the  two  predominant  ethnic  elements, 
the  Anglo-American  and  the  German,  seems  to  have  been  the 
final  object  of  his  plan,  that  was  doubtless  suggested  by 
Goethe's  famous  novel  Wahlverwandtschaften.  Sealsfield 
could  not  fail  to  notice  the  decided  change  in  the  general  cha- 
racter of  the  German  immigration  during  the  fourth  decade 
of  last  century.  While  its  great  bulk  consisted  of  farmers 
and  tradesmen,  the  political  events  of  this  period  had  driven 
also  many  thousands  of  highly  educated  Germans  to  America, 
whose  presence  was  soon  felt  in  the  political,  social,  and  in- 
tellectual life  of  the  nation.  The  problems  connected  with 
early  frontier  life  from  which  America  then  was  fast  emerg- 
ing had  changed  to  the  problems  arising  from  the  fusion  into 
a  new  and  higher  civilization  of  the  inherited  culture  of  vari- 
ous ethnic  elements.  That  Sealsfield  had  changed  his  opinion 
of  the  German  immigrants  since  he  wrote  Morton,  may  be 
seen  from  the  remark  of  the  captain  of  the  ship  on  which 
Rambleton  sails  for  America :  ^^'Xet  these  Germans  alone. 
Would  to  God  all  our  immigrants  were  like  these  Germans. "^'^ 
Again, ^^'^  the  author  makes  the  following  comment  on  the  little 

12  Morton,  pt.  I,  p.  132. 

13  Wahlverwandtschaften,  pt.   I,   p.   230. 

14  Cf.  Jefferson,  Writings,  v.  II,  p.  235:  "Of  all  foreigners 
I  should  prefer  Germans,  they  are  the  easiest  got,  the  best  for  their 
landlords,   and  do  best   for  themselves." 

15  Wahlverwandtschaften,  pt.   I,  pp.  270-271. 

.  209  ■ 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

vesper  service  held  by  these  pious  emigrants :  "It  is  their 
daily  custom,  and  a  beautiful  custom  it  is,  to  carry  the  God 
of  one's  home  country  in  one's  heart  and  over  the  water  into 
distant  regions  and  woods. — May  ye  never  forget  this  most 
beautiful  custom,  ye  good  Germans." 

Only  once  more  before  landing  we  hear  something  of 
the  Germans  on  board,  and  then  we  leave  them  to  the  fate  in 
store  for  them,  while  the  author  plunges  us  into  the  gilded 
society  life  of  New  York,  takes  us  from  balls  at  Saratoga  to 
an  old  Dutch  manor,  and  thence  to  the  dwellings  of  fashion- 
ables in  the  metropolis.  We  become  disgusted  with  the  ab- 
surdities and  shallowness  of  their  life;  and  when  Baron 
Schochstein  enters  a  parlor  filled  with  dandies  and  belles,  we 
are  all  the  more  impressed  with  his  personality.  ^^"And  it 
was  truly  a  rare  appearance — an  appearance  of  which  his 
and  every  nation  may  well  be  proud,  a  magnificent  specimen 
of  youthful  German  strength ;  alas,  such  as  the  nation  whose 
descendants  hold  a  dominant  position  in  the  civilized  world, 
rarely  sends  over  to  her  granddaughter,  America,  although 
the  latter  above  all  others,  is  deserving  of  this  friendly  family 
visit;  since  she,  the  freest  nation  upon  earth,  has  proved  her- 
self at  the  same  time  the  most  liberal  toward  Germany,  and 
has  paid  with  interest  the  debt  which  she  contracted  with  the 
Steubens  and  De  Kalbs,  by  the  hospitable  reception  of  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  their  poor  countrymen,  and  has  always 
delighted  in  strengthening  and  cementing  the  mutual  cordial 
relations." 

With  all  his  enthusiasm  for  America  and  true  American 
ideals,  Sealsfield  is  not  blind  to  the  dangers  which  then  al- 
ready beset  our  national  life  in  the  shape  of  a  debasing  ma- 
terialism and  the  mad  worship  of  money.  At  the  same  time 
the  author  gives  us  an  inkling  of  the  role  which  in  his  story 
the  German  element  was  to  play  in  the  process  of  thnic 
coalescence.^^     To  make  Baron   von   Schochstein  acquainted 

1^'  IVahlverwandtschaflen,  pt.    II,   pp.  232-233. 
^"^  An   article   sent   to   the   publisher   of   Die    Vereinigten   Staaten 
(Feb.    25,    1827),    which    was    either    to    substitute    the    beginning    of 

210  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

with  the  political  and  social  life  of  the  metropolis,  he  has  him 
attend  a  riotous  political  meeting  of  Tammany  Hall,  and  one 
of  the  conferences  of  New  York  plutocracy.  Shocked  with 
their  sordid  methods  and  the  homage  they  pay  to  the  golden 
calf,  he  exclaims :  ^^"  .  .  .  dollars,  the  gods  of  these  Ameri- 
cans, of  these  terrible  Americans,  who,  having  thus  deceived 
the  hopes  of  the  world,  are  lowering  the  goddess  of  liberty  to 
a  base  prostitute.  Ah !  but  I  will  show  them,  yea,  I  must  show" 
them,  that  in  a  German's  heart  there  is  also  room  for  truly 
human  feelings." 

In  a  similar  but  more  explicit  sense  Andrew  D.  White 
said  many  years  later  in  an  address  on  Some  Practical  In- 
fluences of  German  Thought  upon  the  United  States:  "The 
dominant  German  idea  is,  as  I  understand  it,  that  the  ultimate 
end  of  a  great  modern  nation  is  something  beside  manufac- 
turing, or  carrying,  or  buying  or  selling  products;  that  art, 
literature,  science  and  thought  in  its  highest  flight  and  widest 
ranges,  are  greater  and  more  important ;  and  that  highest  of 
all — as  the  one  growth  for  which  all  wealth  exists,  is  the 
higher  and  better  development  of  man,  not  merely  as  a  planner, 
or  a  worker,  or  a  carrier,  or  a  buyer  and  seller,  but  as  a  man. 
In  no  land  has  this  idea  penetrated  more  deeply  than  in  Ger- 
many, and  it  is  this  idea  which  should  penetrate  more  and 
more  American  thought  and  practice. "^^ 

vol.  II,  or  to  he  printed  in  the  Morgenhlatt,  says  the  following  of 
the  Germans  and  their  descendants  in  Pennsylvania :  "Their  char- 
acteristic traits  are:  honesty,  simpHcity,  and  tireless  activity."  (Faust, 
Der  Dichter  heidcr  Hemisphdren,  letter  9b.,  p.  197). 

18  Wahherwandtschaften,  pt.   IV,   p.   171. 

1^  White,  Andrew,  D.,  Some  Practical  Influences  of  German 
Thought  upon  the  United  States,  Ithaca,  New  York,  1884,  p.  12. 


211 


Chapter  VII. 
NEW  YORK  AND  NEW  ENGLAND  TYPES. 

Sealsfield's  art  of  characterization  appears  at  its  best  in 
his  description  of  the  southwestern  states — partly,  of  course, 
because  he  had  Hved  there  longest,  but  principially  because 
he  considered  them  most  important  in  the  development  of  our 
country.  Nor  must  it  be  forgotten  that  at  his  time  the  South 
still  predominated  in  the  political  life  of  the  Union.  Yet  his 
delineation  of  eastern  types  of  our  population  must  not  be 
overlooked.  It  is  true,  his  descriptions  display  a  great  deal 
of  sharp  sarcasm,  but  they  also  contain  many  wholesome 
truths;  and  if  we  deduct  a  certain  personal  bias,  due  perhaps 
to  the  author's  belief  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  Eastern  states 
were  inclined  slavishly  to  imitating  the  British,  we  obtain  as 
true  a  likeness  of  these  people  as  we  have  in  his  western  types. 
While  he  represents  the  latter  mostly  as  healthy,  energetic 
men,  who  earned  an  honest  living  by  hard  work,  he  gives  us 
now  an  insight  into  the  life  of  the  wealthy  pseudo-aristocracy, 
the  drones  of  civilized  society.^ 

In  The  Americans,'^  while  sojourning  at  Cincinnati,  he 
says :  "There  is  nevertheless,  not  any  city  in  the  state  of  Ohio 
to  be  compared  with  New  York,  Philadelphia,  or  Boston,  nor 
is  it  probable  there  will  be.  At  the  same  time  this  want  is 
largely  compensated  by  the  absence  of  immorality  and  luxury 
— evils  necessarily  attached  to  large  and  opulent  cities — which 
may  be  said  to  attract  the  heart's  blood  of  the  country."^ 

1  Cooper's  Home  as  Found  has  similar  pictures  of  eastern  society. 

2  The  Americans,  p.    14. 

3  Cf.  Grund,  Die  Americaner,  p.  113.  "The  country  will  always 
be  the  best  moderator  of  cities ;  the  passions  of  men  are  sooner  excited, 
where  they  incessantly  touch  each  other,  and  where  personal  enmity 

212 


NATIONAI,  TYPES 

In  the  first  part  of  this  study  we  have  traced  the  gene- 
alogy of  two  New  York  famiUes  to  the  arrival  of  their  fore- 
fathers in  1610  or  20.  Now  we  shall  see  the  sixth  and 
seventh  generations,  who  consider  themselves  an  aristocracy 
by  birth,^  the  landed  interest,^  the  first  families  of  New  York, 
who  avoid  coming  into  close  contact  with  the  masses.  They 
are,  in  fact,  a  distinct  caste,^  the  cream  of  the  country,  who 
only  marry  into  their  own  set,  or  perhaps,  into  old  English  fam- 
ilies, and  thus  retain  the  adventurous  spirit  common  to  both. 
Having  obtained  wealth,  either  from  their  ancestors,  or  like 
the  "Fly  market  loafer"'^  whom  we  met  in  the  first  part  of 
this  study,  through  hard  work,  cunning  and  perseverance  in 
business,  they  are  now  desirous  of  being  adorned  with  titles 
and  therefore  are  anxious  to  find  for  their  daughters  a  baron 
or  a  count,^  who  sometimes,  of  course,  prove  to  be  but 
soidisants  barons  or  counts.  To  be  worthy  of  these  honors, 
they  are  very  careful  that  their  children,  especially  their 
daughters,  receive  the  best  of  education  in  institutions  where 
education  is  synonymous  with  polish  and  brilliant  varnish  over 
a  crude  interior.  Their  dress  and  manners  are  copied  from 
England.^  That  country  occasionally  sends  over  such  men 
as  Thornton^^  who  are  to  educate  the  plebeian  daughter, 
America,  so  that  she  may  soon  be  received  again  into  the  arms 
of  the  mother.  This,  according  to  Sealsfield,  would  indeed  not 
be  an  impossible  feat  in  the  East,  for  these  states  are  tired 

and  family  quarrels  nourish  the  fury  of  political  parties,  rather  than 
where  they  are  spread  over  a  large  space,  less  dependent  upon  each 
other  .  .  .  Therefore  large  cities  will  always  be  the  worst  keepers 
of  civil  liberty,  while  the  land  is  their  protection." — Jefferson,  IVrit- 
mgs,  V.  IV,  p.  88.  "Cultivators  of  the  earth  are  the  most  valuable 
citizens.  They  are  the  most  vigorous,  the  most  independent,  the  most 
virtuous,  and  they  are  tied  to  their  country  and  welded  to  its  liberty 
and  interests  by  the  most  lasting  bonds." 

■*  Wahlverwandtschajten,  pt.  II,  p.  363. 

5  Ihid.,  pt.  IV,  p.  142. 

6  Cf.  Ihid.,  pt.  II,  p.  121. 

7  Ihid.,  pt.  Ill,  p.  288. 

8  Ihid.,  pt.  II,  pp.  247-249. 

9  Ihid.,  pt.  Ill,  p.  427. 

10  Ihid.,  p.  67. 

213  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

of  our  democracy  or  mobocracy/^  as  they  call  it,  and  look 
forward  to  a  new  order  of  things.  Metternich  is  their  man, 
their  ideal;  they  want  a  government  centralized  in  their  own 
and  their  clique's  hands. 

The  older  generation,  the  sixth  in  this  country,  we  see 
engaged  in  money  matters  and  politics  only,  while  the  younger 
set  play  part  of  the  time  the  role  of  love-seeking  fashionables. 
In  Cousin  Erwin  of  the  IVahhet-wandtschaften,  we  have  an 
example  of  a  young  fellow  who  is  both  a  money  man  and  a 
"ladies  man."  Though  he  is  always  mindful  of  his  own  ad- 
vantage, he  worships  at  the  same  time  at  the  shrine  of  the 
American  demigod — popularity.  ^-"He  was  indeed  a  double. 
A  man  of  business  from  ten  in  the  morning  till  three  in  the 
afternoon,  a  man  of  the  world  from  three  in  the  afternoon  till 
ihree  in  the  morning.  No  one  understood  better  than  he  to 
picture  the  financially  hard  times,  and  the  impossibility  of 
cashing  your  notes  under  five  percent  a  month  .  .  .  — this 
twenty- four  year-old  nephew  of  the  bank  president  Jedidiah 
Dish."  The  latter  is  certainly  a  queer  character,  sparing  in 
words  and  unscrupulous  as  a  banker,  filled  with  but  one  desire 
— to  make  money.  The  longest  speech  that  ever  came  from 
his  lips  was  the  inaugural  address  installing  his  nephew  as  a 
broker  in  the  catacombs  under  his  bank.  ^^"  'Cousin  Erwin !', 
said  the  dignified  man  at  that  time,  'Cousin  Erwin!  Usten  to 
me  or  be  d — d,  man !  Erwin  !  Man  !  .  .  .  Erwin  !',  he  repeated, 
'you  are  my  brother's  son,  but  that  doesn't  make  a  fiddlestick 
of  difference,  man!  Fifteen  thousand  dollars,  the  inheritance 
from  your  mother,  you  have  eaten  and  drunk  away,  man! 
Always  too  merry,  man !  But  during  this  merry  making  you 
have  shown  ability,  man !  cleverness,  cunning,  dexterity,  man ! 
You  have  understood  how  to  make  yours  the  girls  of  others, 
man !  Be  still,  man  !  I  am  an  old  bachelor,  who  knows  to  ap- 
preciate such  things,  man !  And  your  cleverness,  man !  to  win 
the  girls  of  others,  has  caused  me  to  make  up  my  mind,  man ! 

11  Ibid.,  V.  Ill,  p.  70. 

1^  Wahlverwandtschaften,  pt.  II,  pp.  158-159. 
13  Ibid.,  pt.  II,  pp.  159-160. 

214  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

to  test  you,  whether  you  would  also  succeed  in  making  other 
people's  money  yours,  man !  Money  is  the  principal  thing, 
man!  Money  makes  a  man  out  of  a  man.  Without  money 
a  man  is  no  man,  worth  nothing!  You  must  prove,  man,  that 
you  are  worth  something,  man !  Without  money,  to  make  the 
money  of  others  your  own,  do  you  understand,  man?  It  is 
a  great  art,  man,  without  money,  to  make  other  people's  money 
your  own,  man!  I  want  to  teach  you  this  art,  man!  Will 
make  a  respectable  man  out  of  you,  or  you  shall  be  d — d, 
man !'  " 

''And  the  honorable  uncle  taught  his  worthy  nephew  the 
art  without  money  to  make  the  money  of  others  his  own,  and 
the  nephew  was  an  apt  pupil,  and  was  not  willing  to  be  d — d !" 
And  later  we  hear  that  Erwin  has  succeeded  as  a  broker,  and 
has  become  as  dangerous  a  man  as  any  one  in  New^  York— 
who  would  not  hesitate  to  have  his  own  father  thrown  into 
the  debtor's  prison.^^ 

Of  the  meeting  and  caucus  held  to  combat  the  administra- 
tion which  had  planned  to  introduce  hard  coin  as  the  sole  legal 
medium  of  exchange,  we  have  already  heard. ^'^ 

Nor  does  the  social  life  of  this  counterfeit  aristocracy 
escape  the  author's  criticism  and  ridicule.  While  Rambleton 
is  in  Switzerland,  he  reads  in  an  American  paper  a  full  ac- 
count of  a  Grand  Fancy  Ball  with  a  detailed  description  of 
the  clothes  and  jewelry  worn  by  the  beauties  and  fashion- 
ables, mentioning  especially  that  "those  informed  assert  that 
the  diamonds  alone  of  Mistress  A.  cost  fifty  thousand  dollars." 
To  this  Rambleton  remarks:  "Pshaw!  her  father  dealt  in 
rope  and  tar."^^ 

Rambleton's  return  to  New  York  furnishes  our  romancer 
the  opportunity  of  picturing  the  parasitic  life  of  a  certain  por- 
tion of  New  York  'Society'.  His  descriptions  remind  the 
reader  strongly  of  Bulwer-Lytton's  Pelham  (1828),  that  great 

1"*  IVahlverwandtschaften,  pt.  Ill,  p.  435. 

15  Supra,  pp.  112-113. 

16  Wahlverivandtschaften,  pt.  I,  pp.  97-99. 

215  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

satire,  which,  taken  seriously  by  London  and  New  York 
'Society',  ^''"heralded  a  new  intellectual  dynasty  of  fops  and 
puppies. "^^  Sealsfield  caricatures  New  York  fashionables, 
just  as  the  author  of  Pelham,  ten  years  previous,  had  directed 
his  satire  against  English  elites.  The  set  of  people  whose  life 
he  describes  can  be  understood  only  when  one  realizes  that 
they  are  imitating  English  manners  and  fashions. ^^  Erwin 
Dish,  proud  of  his  nobly  pale  cheeks  and  his  blue  encircled 
eyes,  as  well  as  Rambleton,  the  Angler  of  Lake  St.  George, 
are  pictured  as  fantastic-dreamy,  a  little  Byronic,  but  still 
more  after  the  type  of  Bulwer's  Pelham.^^  After  Dougaldine, 
a  thoroughbred  society  belle,  had  remarked  to  her  father  thai 
Harry  was  a  tailor-made  puppet,  but  no  gentleman,  Mr. 
Ramble  replied  greatly  astonished :  -^"Harry,  who  pays  his 
tailor  at  least  a  thousand  dollars  a  year,  ^^no  gentleman? 
No  gentleman,  Harry,  who  uses  five  hundred  dollars  worth  of 
salves  and  powders, ^^  and  goes  to  bed  with  a  corset,  he  no 
gentleman?"  In  fine,  they  are  described  now  as  assuming  an 
air  of  Weltschmerz,  and  again  as  wallowing  in  luxury  and 
satisfying  their  gourmand  pleasures. 

Even  less  favorable  than  his  picture  of  New  York 
society,  are  Sealsfield's  descriptions  of  the  New  Englander. 
What  he  criticizes  with  ridicule  and  irony  in  the  Moneyocracy 
of  the  Metropolis,  he  depicts  with  more  serious  expostulation 
in  the  Yankee. 

With  the  word  Yankee  he  designates  the  inhabitants  of 
the  six  New  England  states.     Gabriele,  a  minor  character  in 

!''■     Moulton,  Library  of  Literary  Criticism,  v.  VI,  p.  685. 

18  Sealsfield  expresses  his  opinion  of  Bnhver-Lytton  and  his 
Pelham  in  the  preface  to  Morton,  p.  16,  and  in  Kajiitenbuch,  pt.  II, 
pp.  332-333. 

1^  Cf.    Wahlverwandtschaften,  pt.    Ill,    p.    196. 

20  Ihid.,  pt.  Ill,  pp.  7-8.  Cf.  Cambridge  History  of  English 
Literature,  v.  XIII,  pt.  II,  p.  465.  "Pelhamism  superceded  Byronism, 
established  a  new  fashion  in  dress  .  .  ."  Cf.  IVahherzvandtschaften, 
pt.  I,  p.  236,  pt.  II,  p.  137. 

21  Wahlverwandtschaften,  pt.   Ill,  p.  309. 

22  Cf.  Pelham,  v.  II,  pp.  65-68. 

23  Cf.  Ibid.,  V.  II,  p.  59,  74. 

216  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

Der  Legitime,  who  gives  Rosa  some  lessons  in  geography  in- 
forms her  (pointing  to  the  New  England  states)  :  ^*''These 
are  the  Yankees.  We  call  them  so  because  they  sell  us  walnut 
wood  for  nutmegs,  and  hickory  for  ham,  and  to  our  Negroes 
Mississippi  mire  for  medicine ;  ^^in  general  because  they  are 
like  Jews."  This  comparison  is  quite  common  in  the  author's 
works.  Stephy  says  upon  one  occasion :  ^^^''Did  you  believe 
I  was  a  Yankee,  such  a  double-distilled  Jew?"  And  George 
Howard  calls  them  ^^"real,  double-distilled  Jews,  who  sell 
their  daughters  to  the  highest  bidder  just  like  their  barrels  of 
onions,  flour,  or  whiskey."  Even  in  his  first  work  ^^we  are 
warned  against  these  "more  than  double-distilled  Jews."^^ 

In  Ralph  Doughby  the  author  introduces  a  truly  interest- 
ing specimen,  in  the  character  of  Jared  Bundle,  half  peddler 
and  half  missionary,  who  gets  rid  of  his  cheap  and  worthles^^ 
ware  on  a  Mississippi  steamer.  He  sells  Palmyra  salve, 
^°''a  composition  of  lard,  ground  powder,  and  shoe  blacking, 
scented  with  the  decoction  of  walnut  and  tobacco  leaves — 
most  excellent  for  freckles  and  lockjaw."  On  the  whole,  he  is 
the  modernized  successor  of  the  early  fur  traders.  While 
the  latter  not  unfrequently  drove  a  hard  bargain  with  the 
Indians  by  taking  their  valuable  furs  in  exchange  for  a  little 
whiskey,  the  former  victimizes  his  white  fellow  citizen  even 
more  crudely.  There  he  stands  in  the  midst  of  backwoods- 
men, ^^"his  air,  menacing  and  earnest,  and  then  again  sneak- 

24  Der  Legitime,  pt.  Ill,  pp.  121-122. 

25  Flint,  Recollections,  p.  ZZ.  "The  common  reply  of  the  boats- 
men  to  those  who  ask  them  what  is  their  lading  is  "Pit-coal  indigo, 
wooden    nutmegs,    strawbaskets,    and    Yankee    notions." 

26  Morton,  pt.  I,  p.  194. 
^"^  George  Howard,  p.  181. 

28  Die  Vereinigten  Staaten,  v.  I,  p.  162. 

29  Nichols,  Forty  Years  of  American  Life,  v.  I,  p.  389.  "Theodore 
Parker  has  remarked  in  one  of  his  sermons,  that  New  England  was 
one  of  the  few  places  in  the  civilized  world  where  there  are  no  Jews. 
The  Yankees  are  too  sharp   for  the  children  of   Israel." 

30  Ralph  Doughby,  p.  39. 

31  Ibid.,  pp.  17-19. 

217  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

ing,  drawing  up  his  face  into  an  innumerable  quantity  of  fox- 
like wrinkles,  with  a  reddish-gray,  bright  eye,  seemingly  quiet, 
but  always  rolling;  sometimes  resting  on  the  backwoodsmen, 
and  again  thoughtfully  squinting  toward  the  cases  of  goods : 
his  lips  compressed;  his  whole  thin  but  bony  figure,  in  an 
attitude,  which  made  it  difficult  to  say  whether  it  was  better 
fitted  for  preaching,  singing  or  schoolmastering.  The  man 
might  have  been  about  thirty,  and  was  as  dry  as  leather.  He 
had  a  roll  of  chewing  tobacco  in  one  hand  and  a  bunch  of 
silk  ribbon  in  the  other,  which  he  had  taken  from  a  half 
opened  chest,  in  which  peddlers'  ware  of  every  variety  was 
visible.  By  the  side  of  this  chest  were  two  others,  and  near 
them  a  crying  Negro,  scratching  alternately  his  right  shoulder 
and  foot,  but  evidently  far  from  being  on  the  road  to  eternity. 
As  the  Yankee  raised  his  hand,  enjoining  silence  upon  the 
Negro,  his  face  gradually  assumed  that  solemn,  stifT  and  comic 
expression,  which  is  the  warning  involuntarily  carried  in  the 
countenance  of  one  of  these  double-distilled  Hebrews,  that  his 
southern  brethren  may  be  wary  of  him,  when  he  is  attempting 
to  take  quasi  legal  possession  of  their  dollars  and  cents,  by 
palming  off  some  worthy  equivalent." 

Using  the  Negro  as  a  decoy,  he  had  arranged  with  him 
that  one  of  the  chests  was  to  fall  on  him,  and  that  then  he 
was  to  lament  as  though  every  rib  in  his  body  were  broken. 
The  salve  was  applied,  and  the  Negro  was  healed  almost  in- 
stantly. Tared  Bundle  then  makes  a  good  sale  of  his  beautifier 
and  other  notions,  amongst  which  are  also  tea  kettles.  The 
first  kettle,  sold  to  a  Missourian,  leaks,  and  when  confronted 
with  the  defective  piece,  the  Yankee  looked  at  the  pot  on  all 
sides,  shook  his  head  and  finally  began : 

^^"Ah  gentlemen,  or  rather  ladies  and  gentlemen!  Who 
would  refuse  in  this  happy  land — this  enlightened  country  of 
freedom,  the  most  enlightened  country  in  the  world — to  re- 
ceive information  of  the  strange  occurance  which  just  took 

32  Ralph  Doughhy,  pp.   35-36. 

218  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

place  before  our  eyes?  Who  would  not  desire  this  explana- 
tion? I'll  give  it,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  this  explanation,  in 
which  I  have  only  to  regret  that  I  am  obliged  to  tell  you  that 
there  are  gentlemen  who  sell  tea-pots,  and  sell  them  for  the 
south,  when  they  are  only  fit  for  the  north ;  and  again,  sell 
tea-pots  for  the  north,  which  are  only  fit  for  the  south,  as  is 
the  case  with  these — which  came  from  the  store  of  the  very 
respectable  Messieurs  Knockdown.  These  tea-pots,  you  must 
understand,  have  been  made  for  the  north,  gentlemen,  there 
is  no  doubt ;  for  you  know  that  many  tea-pots  could  stand  the 
cold  of  the  north,  but  not  the  heat  of  the  south ;  and  that  you 
are  responsible  for  them  only  in  as  far  as  they  have  been  made 
either  for  the  north  or  the  south.  And  I  presume  the  cause 
of  it  is,  that  the  gentlemen  of  the  south  are  a  very  hot-tem- 
pered people,  who  have  their  gougings  for  breakfast  just  as  we 
eat  a  mackerel.  Now,  we  of  the  north  have  not  so  hot  a 
temper,  and  the  climate,  mark,  governs  men,  and  the  tea  or 
coffee  pots  made  for  the  north  cannot  possibly  stand  the  heat 
of  the  south.  I  also  wish  to  assert,  that  your  boiling  water 
is  too  hot,  and  this  northern  coffee  or  tea-pot  cannot  stand." 

This,  of  course,  was  too  much  for  our  backwoodsmen, 
they  confiscated  all  he  had,  and  then,  on  account  of  the  "repub- 
lican stoicism  which  he  had  shown  at  the  execution  of  his 
sentence,  he  was  in  a  solemn  way  invited  to  'go  a  whole  hog 
cocktail'."  The  episode  topped  the  climax,  however,  when  he 
asked  whether  any  of  those  present  could  help  him  to  a  place 
as  schoolmaster  in  their  respective  communities.  "But,"  re- 
markes  the  author,  "such  they  are — these  Yankees,  just  as 
Halleck^^  describes  them  in  his  'Connecticut' :" 

^*"Apostates,  who  are  meddling. 

With  merchandise,  pounds,  shillings,  pence,  and  peddling; 

Or  wandering  through  the  southern  Climes,  teaching 

The  A  B  C  from  Webster's  spelling-book. 

Gallant  and  godly ;  making  love  and  preaching. 

And  gaining,  by  what  they  call  "hook  and  crook," 

33  Fitz-Greene  Hallcck,  a  New  Englander.     The  quotation  belongs 
to   stanzas   four  and   five.     Cf.   Halleck's  Poetical   Works,  p.  98. 

34  Ralph  Doughhy,  pp.  40-41. 

219 


CHARI^ES  SEALSFIELD 

And  what  the  moralists  call  overreaching, 

A  decent  living.     The  Virginians  look 

Upon  them  with  as  favorable  eyes, 

As  Gabriel  on  the  devil  in  Paradise." 

In  the  Wahlverwantschaften^^  we  are  told  that  the  name 
Yankee  merchant  is  synonymous  with  that  of  a  swindler,  and 
in  Der  Legifime^^  one  of  the  characters  lends  emphasis  to  his 
words  by  saying,  that,  if  he  were  proven  to  be  wrong,  he 
should  be  called  a  Yankee.  No  wonder,  then,  that  at  the 
frontier  the  Yankee  was  much  disliked.  The  distrust  with 
which  the  New  Englander  was  met  in  the  West  is  shown  also 
by  Flint,  who  says :  ^^''I  will  only  remark,  that  wherever  we 
stopped  at  night  and  requested  lodging,  we  were  constantly 
asked  if  we  were  Yankees;  and  when  we  assured  them  that 
we  were,  we  instantly  saw  a  lengthening  of  visage  ensue.'' 
vSince  the  frontiersman,  however,  as  a  rule,  came  into  contact 
only  with  the  deceitful  type  of  the  Yankee,  it  would  be  wrong 
to  generalize.  Nevertheless,  the  Yankee  seems  to  have  had 
the  common  reputation  of  having  something  cold  and  calcu- 
lating in  his  makeup.  On  board  a  transatlantic  steamer,  which 
just  before  entering  a  harbor,  had  received  some  newspapers, 
we  observe  a  Yankee  glancing  eagerly  through  the  stock  news. 
And  ^^"now  you  can  see  the  Yankee  calculating,  with  curled 
lips,  with  half -closed  eyes,  thinking — reflecting.  They  are 
usually  described  as  very  stiff  and  unapproachable,  but  when 
formally  introduced,  ^'^they  become  talkative,  ^^and  show 
animation  and  intelligence."*^ 

Other  traits  of  theirs  are  due  to  their  Puritan*^  ancestry, 
which,  in  fact,  finds  expression  in  their  very  features.    George 

35  Wahlverwandtschaften,  pt.  IV,  p.  129. 

36  Der  Legitime,  pt.  II,  p.  200. 

37  Recollections,  p.  32. 

38  Wahlverwandtschaften,  pt.   II,   p.    106. 

39  Ihid.,  pt.  I,  p.  241. 

^^  Siiden  und  Norden,  pt.  I,  p.  85. 

41  Die    Vereinigten  Staaten,  v.   I,   p.    11. 

42  For  a  good  description  of  the  Quaker  inhabitants  of  Phila- 
delphia see  Heller,  Sealsfield-Funde,  German  American  Annals,  v. 
IX,   No.    1,   p.   5,    reprinted   from   the  Morgenhlatt,  January  21,    1828. 

220  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

Howard  describes  a  Yankee  of  the  old  school  with  the  following 

words :  "^^''And  these  serious,  dry,  sharp  features,  this  pointed 
nose,  with  the  blue,  sunken,  piercing  eyes — they  seemed  to 
dart  into  me !  There  was  something  good  natured,  but  at  the 
same  time  unconquerably  staring  in  them.  A  Yankee  of  the  old 
school,  true  to  life,"  with  "powdered  queue,  silk  knee  breeches, 
and  shoes  with  golden  buckles."  Jared  Bundle  with  his  im- 
passive leather  face  is  spoken  of,  too,  as  a  descendant  of  the 
pious  pilgrims  of  Plymouth.  This  Puritan  piety  forbids  them 
to  show  emotions,  and  makes  them  hypocrites.  Speaking  of 
Emily  Warren,  who  is  angry  with  Ralph  Doughby  on  ac- 
count of  one  of  his  escapades,  the  author  says :  **" Angry  is 
not  exactly  the  word;  but  it  was  that  quiet,  silent.  New  Eng- 
land antipathy,  mixed  with  a  strong  dose  of  apathy,  which 
had  overmastered  the  girl,  and  seemed  to  give  hope  of  any- 
thing rather  than  a  reconciliation.  These  Yankees  can  hate 
so  quietly,  so  bitterly,  so  calmly,  mind  ye,  while  under  the 
calm  exterior  is  a  glimmer  like  that  of  their  own  Lehigh 
coal."  And  somewhere  else,  he  refers  to  the  moping  pharisa- 
ism  intrinsic  in  their  being,  with  these  words :  *^"I  meant  to 
show  the  old  Yankee  what  kind  of  a  man  he  had  before  him 
(Doughby  is  speaking),  that  I  was  no  thin-legged,  ash-colored 
Yankee;  no  hypocrite,  who  goes  to  church  the  whole  Sunday, 
and  sits  with  his  head  hanging  down,  thinking  and  speculating 
in  what  manner  he  could  scratch  out  the  eyes  of  the  warm 
blooded  Westerners  and  Southerners. ""^^ 

Sealsfield,  however,  is  well  aware  of  the  sterling  qualities 
of  the  Yankee,  in  spite  of  his  apparent  dislike  for  New  Eng- 
land's population.  He  admires  their  early  struggles  and 
praises  them  for  having  carried  their  civilization  to  the  north - 
em  states  of  the  Middle  West,  where  it  has  left  its  imprint. 

^3  George  Howard,  p.   157. 

44  Ralph  Doughby,  pp.   103-104. 

45  Ibid,  p.  138. 

46  Cf.  Another  Westerner,  Hall,  James,  Sketches  of  the  West, 
V.  II,  p.  85,  says  the  following  concerning  the  Yankee's  pious  mode 
of  life :  "They  made  laws,  burned  witches,  prohibited  kissing,  and 
knocked  their  beer-barrels  on  the  head  for  working  on  the  Sabbath." 

221   


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

"Behold  for  instance  the  Yankee,"  he  says  in  Pflanzerlehen, 
*'"one  of  the  eldest  sons  of  said  Uncle  Sam !  behold  him  with 
his  furrowed  brow,  his  cold,  gloomy  eyes,  his  severe  and  com- 
pressed lips,  which  are  only  opened  to  praise  the  Lord  in  his 
holy  temple,  or  the  sugar,  coffee  and  tea  in  his  little  stall : 
thanking  the  Lord  in  odious  self-satisfaction — not  only  in  his 
heart,  but  also  with  his  lips,  that  he  'is  not  like  other  men', 
but  a  favored,  a  chosen  being!  And  in  him  you  have  a  toler- 
ably favorable  picture  of  the  pious  fathers  of  Plymouth,  who, 
if  the  chronicles  be  correct,  never  neglected  the  good  things 
of  this  world  for  those  of  the  next;  and  of  their  relatives, 
the  Roundheads'*^  and  Puritans,  and  Cameronians,*®  and  other 
heroes  of  a  kindred  sort.  But  again,  those  cold,  unpleasant 
features  conceal  virtues  which  you  would  scarcely  expect 
under  their  hard  and  repulsive  exterior — virtues  which  origin- 
ally propelled  him  as  on  the  wings  of  a  bird,  to  seek  a  home 
in  the  cold,  monotonous  wilderness  of  New  England,  thence 
over  the  Alleghany  mountains,  never  resting  until  he  had 
transformed  the  wilds  of  the  Great  West  to  a  fertile  paradise. 
If  at  the  present  day  you  traverse  the  country  west  of  the 
Alleghanies,  that  same  country  which  less  than  fifty  years  ago, 
was  the  haunt  of  bears,  wolves  and  other  ferocious  beasts,  you 
will  find  millions  of  quiet,  sober  and  active  citizens,  united 
in  States,  many  of  them  surpassing  in  extent,  circumstances, 
and  particularly  in  civilization  and  in  knowledge,  the  do- 
minions of  your  European  kings :  and  though  you  sometimes 
meet  with  stray  pigs  and  cows,  you  will  find  no  country  in 
any  part  of  the  earth  superior  in  beauty.  Railways  and  roads 
cross  the  country  in  every  direction,  and  steamers  cover  the 
rivers  and  lakes.  And  to  your  question,  'Who  has  worked  all 
these  wonders  ?',  we  answer :  'The  Yankee !  the  greater  part 
at  least',  the  Yankee,    with    his    furrowed    brow    and    cold, 

47  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.   I,   pp.  283-285. 

48  In  the  reign  of  Charles  I,  and  later,  a  Puritan  or  member  of 
the  Parliamentary  party  who  wore  his  hair  cut  short,  so  called  in 
derision  by  the  cavaliers,  who  usually  wore  ringlets."    (Webster). 

49  A  Cameronian,  a  follower  of  Richard  Cameron,  who  refused 
to   accept   the  indulgence   offered   the   Presbyterian   clergy. 

222  


NATIONAL  TYPES 

gloomy  eye,  who,  as  his  neighbor  tells  you,  has  no  very  tender 
nor  generous  heart  in  his  bosom.  These  are  the  men  who 
prepared  beautiful  Ohio  for  your  residence,  so  that  now  Ger- 
mans, and  Englishmen,  Scotchmen,  and  Frenchmen  reap 
where  they  have  not  sown.     Say,  whence  the  riddle?" 

It  is  evident  from  the  foregoing  that  Sealsfield's  prime 
interest  lay  in  the  Southwest,  where  he  lived  for  several  years. 
These  states,  especially  Mississippi  and  Louisiana  seemed  to 
offer  more  room  for  development  and  to  present  opportunities 
such  as  he  had  found  nowhere  else.^"  We  must  remember, 
too,  that  he  wrote  at  a  time  before  an  extensive  network  of 
railroad  lines  connected  all  parts  of  the  Union,  and  that 
previous  to  this  time,  farmers  and  merchants  could  exchange 
their  goods  only  by  way  of  water  communication,  there  being 
only  few  and  poor  roads.  Since  almost  all  rivers  between  the 
Alleghanies  and  the  Rocky  Mountains  empty  into  the  Missis- 
sippi, the  importance  of  this  stream  and  its  tributaries  must 
not  be  overlooked.  In  fact,  the  question  of  navigation  on  the 
Father  of  Waters  was  for  a  long  time  a  vital  one  in  the  history 
of  the  States.  For  most  states  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  New 
Orleans  offered  a  better  market  than  the  Atlantic  Coast, 
though  in  some  cases  the  latter  was  less  distant.  The  im- 
portance which  Sealsfield  attached  to  the  acquisition  of  Louisi- 
ana he  expressed  clearly  in  these  words :  -"^^"Only  this  pur- 
chase was  able  to  give  to  the  American  merchant  an  inde- 
pendence and  patriotism  which  he  did  not  possess  till  now." 

Since  Sealsfield  was  interested  so  deeply  in  the  south- 
western states,  his  descriptions  of  that  region  outrank  all 
others  in  vividness  and  accuracy  of  detail,  and  the  impressions 
of  reality  which  the  inhabitants  of  Kentucky,  Louisiana,  and 
Texas,  and  such  characters  as  Ralph  Doughby,  Nathan,  the 
Alcalde,  George  Howard,  Menou,  or  the  trapper,  leave  with 
the  reader  are  indelible.  American  fiction  had  not  at  Seals- 
field's  time  really  ventured  into  the  West,  and  where  it  had, 

so  Cf.   The  Americans,  pp.  215-217. 

SI  Die  Vereinigten  Staaien,  v.  I,  p.  160. 

223 


CHARI^ES  SEAI,SFIEI.D 

it  was  fiction  only  and  not  the  bold  realism  of  actual  life. 
However,  there  is  after  all  something  unexplainable  in  Seals- 
field's  descriptions,  something  that  baffles  us  if  we  remember 
that  he  wrote  some  of  his  best  works  after  a  stay  of  only  four 
or  five  years  in  this  country.  I^ittle  could  he  have  drawn 
these  life-like  pictures  of  the  different  racial  elements  and 
their  enviroment  had  he  not  been  the  born  artist,  endowed  by 
nature  with  a  specific  and  most  keenly  developed  sense  for 
ethnic  individuality. 


224 


NATIONAL  CHARACTER. 

It  has  been  pointed  out^  in  the  preceding  discussion  that 
the  mighty  agency  which,  in  Sealsfield's  opinion,  unites  the 
various  ethnic  elements  into  a  national  entity,  and  thereby 
fosters  the  growth  of  a  new  nationality  inspired  by  common 
aspirations  and  ideals,  is  democracy.  The  most  remarkable 
passage  in  which  the  author  gives  expression  to  this  thought 
and  at  the  same  time  interprets  his  lofty  conception  of  de- 
mocracy, occurs  in  Pflanzerlehen,  and  reads  as  follows :  ^"I 
love  not  this  democracy  which  places  all  on  a  level,  equalizing 
all;  yet  I  cannot  despise  it,  for  the  more  I  reflect,  the  more 
evident  is  it  to  me,  that  this  democracy  is  necessary  to  the 
ultimate  grandeur  and  welfare  of  our  land;  that  it  is  de- 
mocracy alone — and  there  is  proof  even  in  the  fragment  be- 
fore me — which  in  our  present  stage  developes  our  entire 
strength  in  such  various  directions ;  and  without  it,  these  won- 
ders of  civilization  and  energy — those  canals  of  three  hundred 
and  sixty  miles;  those  splendid  cities,  hardly  a  quarter  of  a 
century  in  age ;  our  seas  and  lakes  covered  with  merchandise , 
our  railways  nearly  connecting  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  with 
those  of  the  Pacific,  and  daily  increasing  the  civilization  in  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi, — would  never  have  been  realized. 
This  democracy,  so  misunderstood  by  high  and  low,  seeming  to 
many  nothing  more  than  a  transcendent  phantom,  is  among  us 
a  law  of  necessity;  that  same  democracy  unites  the  population 
of  our  land  into  one  homogeneous  body;'^  baffled  by  no  im- 
pediments, restrained  by  no  regards,  it  works  night  and  day 

1  Supra,  p.  123. 

2  Pflanzerlehen,  pt.  I,  pp.  264-267. 

3  Cf.  Marryat,  Frederick,  Diary,  ser.  I,  v.  I,  p.  4.  "They  are  a 
mass  of  people  cemented  together  to  a  certain  degree  by  a  general 
form  of  government." 

225  


chari.es  sealsfield 

on  the  public  good,  and  even  ennobles  our  insatiable  avarice 
by  resting  it  on  this  honorable  basis.  It  is  this  democracy, 
which  divided  the  power  of  an  earthly  god,  snatched  if  from 
a  single  hand,  and  shivered  it  into  millions  of  parts,  hurling 
to  every  individual  a  splinter  of  the  thunderbolt  and  a  spark 
of  the  lightning — each  creating  myriads  of  elements  destined 
to  become  as  powerful ;  it  is  this  democracy,  which  has  caused 
self-esteem,  even  majesty,  laughable  as  it  may  appear  now, 
though  far  from  laughable  in  reality,  to  enter  our  huts.  For, 
remember  well !  as  our  country  is  that  portion  of  the  world  in 
which  democracy  has  been  developed  to  its  widest  extent,  so 
also  is  it  the  only  country,  where  it  has  entirely  comprehended 
and  gloriously  fulfilled  its  mission — that  of  civilizing  the  most 
beautiful  and  the  richest  portion  of  the  globe.  And  the 
secret  by  which  it  has  been  achieved,  is  the  boundless  aug- 
mentaiton  of  the  free  agencies,  in  opposition  to  those  only 
acting  in  bodies.  In  this  secret  of  individualizing  rests  its 
power  of  reproduction — in  the  self-esteem  which  it  conveys  to 
every  individual,  forming  in  each  man  a  separate  body,  a 
responsible  being,  with  entire  freedom  of  thought  and  action."* 

With  the  same  keen  interest  and  psychological  penetration 
with  which  Sealsfield  had  observed  and  described  the  cha- 
racteristics of  the  various  ethnic  elements  he  follows  the 
development  of  the  common  national  traits  resulting  from  the 
formation  of  the  new  homogeneous  nationality. 

The  most  conspicuous  feature  of  the  American  character 
is,  according  to  our  romancer,  strength,  firmness  and  determi- 
nation of  will.  Thus  Whitely,  an  American  traveling  in 
Mexico,  is  characterized  as  a  -^'"sharp,  cautious  man;  in  every 
sense  of  the  word  a  true  American,  who  thinks  before  he  leaps 
and  weighs  slowly  his  determination,  but  when  he  has  once 
made  up  his  mind,  he  goes  like  a  bullet  to  the  target."  The  same 
determination    and    energy    carried    the    Texan    colonists    to 

4  Similar  views  are  expressed  in  an  article  On  the  Formation  of 
a  National  Character,  The  Western  Monthly  Magazine,  Cincinnati, 
1833,  V.  I,  pp.  348-355. 

"  Siiden  iind  Norden,  pt.  II,  p.  159. 

226  — — 


National  character 

victory  over  Mexican  domination.  '^''It  was  not  a  trifle," 
Colonel  Morse  tells  us,  "for  a  people  such  as  the  Texans,  who 
at  that  time  hardly  numbered  thirty-five  thousand  souls,  to 
undertake  with  a  repubUc  whose  population  consisted  of  full 
nine  millions,  and  who,  spite  of  anarchy  and  internal  division, 
could  easily  send  against  us  double  as  many  soldiers  as  we 
numbered  souls.  But  then  we  were  Americans,  had  spoken 
out  our  resolve  to  be  free,  and  you  know  when  the  American 
speaks  his  will  firmly,  there  is  no  power  on  earth  which  can 
hinder  him  from  carrying  it  out."  Again  Sealsfield  has  the 
same  trait  of  national  character  in  mind  when  he  remarks : 
^"Our  proverb  says — 'If  it  is  cold  with  us,  it  freezes;  if  it  is 
hot,  it  melts ;  if  it  rains,  it  pours',  and  in  this  it  illustrates  our 
national  character  as  well  as  our  climate.  Our  people  do  not 
like  halves.  If  they  desire  anything  they  desire  it  wholly. 
Difficulties  and  dangers  do  not  terrify  them,  but  only  serve 
the  more  to  spur  them  on.  Half  of  them  might  sink  in  this 
struggle,  the  other  would  be  sure  to  push  through.  No  people 
on  earth,  the  ancient  Romans  perhaps  excepted,  have  had  this 
intense  energy,  this  enduring  and  almost  terrible  strength  of 
will."« 

Closely  allied  to  this  indomitable  will  power  of  the 
American  is  the  seriousness  and  gravity  which  Sealsfield  dis- 
covers as  one  of  his  distinctive  qualities.  ^"This  gravity,"  he 
says  in  Die  deutsch-amerikanischen  Wahlverwandtschaften, 
"is  again  a  beautiful  feature  in  our  national  character,  a 
feature  justifying  us  in  our  most  exalted  hopes,  and  which 
is  found  in  an  equal  measure  among  no  other  people,  not  even 
among  the  English.  The  French  begin  to  assume  it ;  neither 
the  Germans  nor  the  Italians  are  possessed  of  it,  though  the 
former  with  this  gravity  would  be,  perhaps,  the  greatest  and 
the  first  of  all  nations.  The  English  have  it  in  a  high,  and 
we  in  a  higher  degree.     No  nation  can  aspire  to  greatness 

6  Kajiitenhuch,  pt.  I,  p.  310. 

7  Ibid.,  pt.  II,  pp.  83-84. 

8  Ibid.,  pt.  II,  p.  116. 

»  Wahlverwandtschaften,   pt.   Ill,   pp.   361-362. 

227 ■ 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

without  this  business  character — this  Roman  character.  The 
word  itself  is  replete  with  strength.  Tyranny  trembles  at  the 
mere  word  gravity,  resoluteness,  strength  of  character.  This 
is  what  I  mean  by  gravity  in  business  matters  and  character; 
the  gravity  of  a  people  in  executing  with  consistency  its  ob- 
jects, unbaffled  by  impediments,  whatever  they  may  be  .  .  . 
This  noble  feature  ...  in  the  character  of  our  people,  promises 
an  eminent  future." 

Another  national  characteristic  is  the  adventurous  spirit 
of  the  American  which  Sealsfield  believes  to  be  an  inheritance 
from  the  "Anglo-Norman  nation,"  Great  Britain.  ^"^"Seventy 
years  haven't  passed,"  he  remarks,  "since  the  founding  of 
the  Republic,  and  already  her  colors  are  seen  on  all  oceans,  the 
thunder  of  her  men-of-war  is  heard  before  the  mouths  of 
all  rivers,  and  the  speculating  Yankee  is  seen  in  all  ports.  He 
visits  the  extreme  boundaries  of  Eastern  Asia,  the  Indian 
Archipelago,  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  icy  Russia,  and 
everywhere  he  competes  stubbornly  with  his  English  cousin 
for  power  and  for  commercial  supremacy.  Sometimes  it  ap- 
pears as  though  providence  had  destined  him  to  spread  the 
seeds  of  liberty  over  the  entire  earth  and  to  ennoble  thus  his 
avarice  which  is  at  the  bottom  of  this  dare-devil  game."^^ 

This  same  adventurous  spirit,  the  author  maintains,  mani- 
fested itself  after  the  purchase  of  the  Louisiana  Territory, 
when  thousands  of  families  left  their  homes  in  the  East 
and  migrated  to  the  New  Canaan,  ^^"and,"  he  continues,  "if 
we  observe  with  how  much  foresight  these  simple  peasants 
have  chosen  the  location  of  their  cities,  then  we  cannot  do 
enough  justice  to  their  wonderful  spirit  of  enterprise." 

1*^  Der  Legitime,  pt.  I,  p.  237. 

11  Lieber,  The  Stranger  in  America,  p.  48.  "An  American  dis- 
tinguishes himself  from  the  inhabitants  of  all  other  countries  by  a 
restlessness,  a  striving  and  driving  onward,  without  which  this  coun- 
try would  never  have  shot  up  in  such  an  unexampled  growth,  and 
which  opens  to  thousands  of  men,  possessed  of  nothing  but  their 
energy,  a  successful  career;  whilst  it  also  extinguishes  in  many  in- 
dividual  cases   the  calm   enjoyment   of   what  ihey  have  and   possess." 

12  Der  Legitime,  pt.  I,  p.  240. 

228  


NATIONAL  CHARACTER 

Quite  similar  are  the  following  remarks  taken  from  his 
first  work,  ^^"The  American  is  at  home  everywhere  in  his 
country,  and,  therefore,  in  truth  nowhere.  If  today  he  settles 
on  a  piece  of  land,  clears  the  woods,  builds  his  house  and  his 
bams,  he  will,  nevertheless,  desert  this  home  just  as  soon  as 
a  better  opportunity  arises  two  thousand  miles  further  on.^* 
He  is  an  adventurer,  but  in  the  good  sense  of  the  word."^'^ 

A  third  trait  which  distinguishes  the  American  people 
from  almost  every  other  nation  is  their  avarice  and  egotism. 
"This  egotism,"  he  says  in  Pflanzerleben,  ^^"creeps  over  the 
emigrant  in  America,  whether  he  will  or  not — another  strange 
peculiarity,  a  contrast,  which  is  always  seen  between  the  in- 
habitants of  this  country  and  the  European.  Nature  herself 
is  the  cause."  Upon  another  occasion,  ^^however,  he  calls  it 
a  peculiarly  American  and  English  trait. ^^ 

Again  referring  to  the  English  character  as  the  source  of 
an  important  American  trait,  Sealsfield  says  in  Der  Legitime: 
^^■'There  is  in  the  British  character,  and  we  must  admit,  also 
in  ours,  a  repulsive,  icy  feature,  which  likes  so  well  to  isolate 
itself,  and  to  shut  itself  up — a  gruff,  inflexible,  aristocratic 
sense,  which  thinks  of  itself,  and  only  of  itself."  This 
egotistic  commercial  spirit,  this  want  of  feeling,  has  as  ii-s 
basis  a  preponderance  of  mere  reason  well  founded  in  na- 
tional experience,  and,  therefore,  Sealsfield  does  not  condemn 
it.  **Our  manner,"  he  says  in  Ralph  Doughby,  ^°"is  dry, 
republican,  positive,  our  equilibrium  is  not  easily  disturbed, 
not  even  through  the  right  of  our  best  friends,  albeit  we  had 
not  seen  them  for  many  years."    ^^In  Die  Vereinigten  Staaten, 

13  Warden,  Account  of  the  United  States,  speaks  of  the  migratory 
habits  of  the  Americans,  v.  I,  p.  LXII— Cf.  Flint,  Recollections,  p.  203. 
1^  Die   Vereinigten  Staaten,  v.  II,  p.   192. 
15  Cf.  Nathan,  p.  55. 
10  Pflanzerleben,   pt.   II,  pp.  244-245. 

17  Morton,  pt.  II,  p.  43. 

18  Cf.  Ralph  Doughby,  p.  10. 

19  Der  Legitime,  pt.  I,  p.  218ff. 

20  Ralph  Doughby,  p.  246. 

21  Flint,  History  and  Geography,  p.  90.     "...  there   is  perhaps 
less    romance   in   the   American   character   than   in   that   of   any   other 

229  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

he  speaks  even  of  the  family  Hfe  of  the  Americans  as  being 
void  of  emotions,  cold,  and  formal.'--  Akin  to  this  difference 
and  apathy,  which  he  considers  part  of  the  American  nature,-*^ 
is  a  stiffness  and  formality,  and  frequently  an  assumed 
dignity,  which  finds  expression  not  only  in  their  relation  to 
strangers,  but  also  in  their  public  proceedings-*  and  in  the 
execution  of  their  personal  duties.-^  Often,  of  course,  these 
formalities  are  due  only  to  imagined  principles. 


26 


Another  national  peculiarity  is  spoken  of  in  the  following 
words :  -""There  is  in  our  American  nature  comething  purely 
practical,  which  distinguishes  us  from  all  nations  on  earth-  - 
namely,  a  good  degree  of  sound  reason  and  common  sense. "^* 

Finally  a  passage  from  Wahlvcrzvandtschaften,  though 
apparently  full  of  contradictions,  will  reflect  another  side  of 
our  national  character :  ^^'W  truly  strange  people ! — the 
roughest,  most  sober,  most  inaccessible,  repulsive,  kind,  im- 
portunate, taciturn,  loquacious  people — which,  ten  minutes 
after  being  repulsed,  again  overloads  you  with  the  cornucopia 
of  its  plenty,  forces  you  to  accept  its  presents,  hangs  upon  you 
like  a  burr,  opens  its  purse  and  heart,  and  in  its  liberality  ex- 
cites your  extreme  wonder ;  a  people,  who,  if  you  touch  its 
weak  side  or  adopt  one  of  its  notions — and  we  have  many-- 
only  for  a  moment,  knows  no  end  to  its  friendship,  receives 
you  in  triumph,  leads  you  about' — at  least  until  your  evil 
genius  plays  you  a  trick,  and  you  give  a  dangerous  kick  to 
that  hobby,  and  put  Uncle  Sam  or  Brother  Jonathan  into  ill 
humor.    Mount  the  hobby,  and  the  same  man  who  ten  minute> 

people ;  and  everything  in  our  institutions  tends  to  banish  the  little 
that  remains.  We  are  a  people  to  estimate  vendible  and  tangible 
realities." 

22  Die    Vereinigten   Staaten,  v.   I,   pp.   96-97. 

23  Cf.    IVahlvcrzvandtschaftcn,  pt.    II,   p.   28. 

24  Kajiitenbuch,  pt.  I,  pp.  256-257. 

25  Der  Legitime,  pt.  Ill,  pp.  117-118. 
2fi  Siiden  und  Norden,  pt.  I,  p.  172. 

27  George  Hoimrd,  pp.  272-273. 

28  Duden,  Reise,  p.  293,  emphasizes  the  practical  life. 

29  Wahhenvandischaften,  pt.  I,  pp.   122-124. 

230  


NATIONAL  CHARACTER 

before,  scornful  and  suspicious,  would  not  grant  you  a  word, 
will  suddenly  astonish  you  by  his  loquacity,  and  ultimately 
drive  you  to  despair  by  the  same  means.  Ask  him  a  question 
about  one  of  our  railroads,  and  you  will  have  the  history  of 
railroads  and  everything  pertaining  thereto  from  the  infancy 
of  Tubalcain,  the  first  artificer  of  iron,  down  to  Stephenson. 
You  are  lucky  if,  upon  a  second  question  concerning  our  good 
City  of  Manhattan,  you  have  not  to  go  back  to  Christopher 
Columbus,  or  Americus  Vespucius,  or  Hendrick  Hudson  and 
his  Dutch  navigators.  We  are,  believe  me,  a  peculiar  people 
— quiet,  sober,  and  reflective— perfect  Romans  at  one  time, 
at  another,  ingenious  and  unsophisticated.  Notwithstanding 
our  sagacity  and  love  of  accumulating  wealth,  if  you  permit 
us  to  indulge  in  our  egoism,  we  forget  wisdom,  and  even  dollars, 
and  it  is  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world  to  put  us  in  leading- 
strings.  We  are  famous  for  examining  everything  ab  ovo, 
and  with  a  minuteness  over  which  your  patience  might  run 
to  seed  like  Dutch  onions." 

The  following  tribute  to  the  genius  of  Sealsfield  by  H. 
A.  Rattermann,  the  eminent  historian,  eloquently  sums  up  in 
poetic  form  what  the  writer  of  this  study  has  attempted  to 
present  in  the  preceding  pages : 

CHARLES  SEALSFIELD. 

Austria's   Sohn  und   Burger  Amerika's,   warum  verhiillst  du 

Deine  Wege.  die  du  ehmals  gewandelt  voll  Ruhm? 
Eine  Riesengestalt  von  Shakespeare'scher  Grosse  so  zeigst  du 
Dich  in  den  Werken,  die  du  uns  und  der  Nachwelt  ge- 
schenkt ! 
Herrlich    erscheinen    am    Pfad,    den    du    zogst,    die    kiihnen 
Gebilde 
Deines   Geistes   voll    Pracht :      Menschen   voll    Mut   und 
voll  Kraft, 
Machtig   und    stolz,    gevviegt    in    der    freien    Natur,    der   be- 
gliickten. 
Wild   und    unbandig   wie    sie,   doch   auch    so    frisch   wie 
die  Luft, 
Welche  sie  atmen ;  die  starken  Bezwinger  und  Herrscher  des 
Urwalds, 
Frei,  ungeberdig  wie  Ralph,  partiarchalisch  wie  Strong! 

231  


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

Yankees,  Virginian's  und  Kentucky's  Sohne  und  Tochter, 

Muntre  Kreolinnen  schon,  Mexiko's  Donnas  und  Dons, 
Neger,   Mulatten,  Mestizen,   die   roten   Kinder  der  Wildniss, 

Alle  schilderst  du  sie,  wie  du  im  Leben  sie  sahst. 
Endlose   Walder   und    Fluren   und   goldig   bliih'nde    Prairien 
Zeigtest  am  Wege  du  uns,  Schluchten  und  Siimpfe  voll 
Graus, 
Schaurige  Stiirme  im  Norden  und  wilde  Orkane  im  Siiden: 

Ganz  die  westliche  Welt,  so  wie  sie  lebet  und  webt! 
Aber  die  Stapfen  des  Wegs,  den  du  pilgertest,  hast  du  ver- 
gebens 
Auszuloschen  gestrebt,  dass  dein  Geheimniss  bevvahrt 
Bliebe. — O  herrlicher  Geist !     Dein  Schritt  war  zu  voll  und 
gewichtig, 
Unverganglich  gepragt ! — Dich  preist  die  kiinftige  Welt ! 
(Gesammelte  ausgewahlte  Werke,  v.  X,  p.  28.) 


282 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

I.  SEALSFIELD'S   WRITINGS 

Die  Vereinigteri  Staatcn  von  Nordamerika,  nach  ihrcm  politischen, 
religiosen  iind  gesellschaftlichen  Verhaltnisse  betrachtet.  J.  G. 
Cotta,  Stuttgart,  1827. 

The  United  States  of  North  America  as  they  are ;  Simkin  &  Marshall, 
London,   1828. 

The  Americans  as  they  are;  Described  in  a  Tour  through  the  Valley 
of   the   Mississippi.      Hurst,    Chance    and    Co.,    London,    1828. 

Austria  as  it  is ;  or  Sketches  of  Continental  Courts,  by  an  Eye- 
Witness.     Hurst,  Chance  &  Co.,   London,   1828. 

Tokeah ;  or  The  White  Rose.  Carey,  Lea  and  Carev,  Philadelphia, 
1829. 

Der  Legitime  und  die  Rcpublikaner.  Eine  Geschichte  aus  dem  letzten 
amerikanisch-englischen  Kriege.  3  vols.  Orell,  Fiissli  und  Comp., 
Ziirich,    1833. 

Der  Virey  und  die  Aristokratcn,  oder  Mexiko  im  Jahre  1812.  3  vols. 
Orell,   Fiissli   und   Comp.,   Zurich,   1834. 

Transatlantische  Reiseskizzen  und  Christopherus  Barenhauter.  Orell, 
Fiissli  und  Comp.,  Ziirich,  1834.  2  vols.  (In  the  second  edition 
Transatlantische  Reiseskizzen  was  incorporated  in  Lebensbilder 
aus  der  Westlichen  Hemisphare  as  part  one,  George  Howard's 
Esq.   Brautfahrt). 

Lebensbilder  aus  beiden  Hemisphjiren.  Erster  Teil.  2  vols.  Orell, 
Fiissli  und  Comp.,  Ziirich,  1835.     (Morton,  oder  die  grosse  Tour.) 

Lebensbilder  aus  beiden  Hemispharen,  zweiter  Teil,  oder  der  Trans- 
atlantischen  Reiseskizzen  dritter  Teil.  Orell,  Fussli  und  Comp., 
Ziirich,    1835.      (Ralph    Doughby's    Esq.    Brautfahrt). 

Transatlantische  Reiseskizzen,  F'ortsetzung,  oder  Lebensbilder  aus  bei- 
den Hemisphiircn.  Vols.  4-5.  Schulthess  und  Orell,  Fiissli  und 
Comp.,    Ziirich,    1836.       (Pflanzerleben    und    die    Farbigen.) 

Transatlantische  Reiseskizzen,  Fortsetzung,  oder  Lebensbilder  aus  bei- 
den Hemispharen.  Vol.  6.  Schulthess  and  Orell,  Fiissli  und 
Comp.,  Ziirich,  1837.     (Nathan,  der  Squatter-Regulator.) 

Das  Kajiitenbuch  oder  Nationale  Characteristiken.  2  vols.  Schult- 
hess, Zurich,   1841. 

Neue  Land  und  Secbilder,  1st  and  2nd  vols.  3rd  vol.  in  two  parts, 
and  4th  vol.  Separate  title  page:  Die  deutsch-amerikanischen 
Wahlverwandtschaften.      Schulthess,    Ziirich,    1839-1840. 

Siiden  und  Norden.     J.   B.  Metzler,   Stuttgart,   1842-1843.     3  pts. 

COLLECTED    WORKS  : 

Gesammelte  Werke.     18  pts.   8vo.   J.   B.   Metzler,    Stuttgart,    1844-1846 
(containing    partly    unsold    first    editions,    partly    second    editions 
of   individual   works.) 
Parts  :  1-3     Der  Legitime  und  die  Republikaner.     Eine  Geschichte 

aus    dem    letzten    amerikanisch-englischen    Kriege. 
Parts :  4-6    Der    Virey    und    die    Aristokraten,    oder    Mexiko    im 

Jahre   1812. 
Parts :  7-8     Morton,    oder   die   grosse   Tour. 

233 


CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

Parts:  9-13  Lcbensbilder  aus  der  westlichen  Hemisphare  (pt.  9, 
George  Howard's  Esq.  Brautfahrt,  pt.  10,  Ralph  Doughby's 
Esq.  Brautfahrt,  pts.  11-12,  Pflanzerleben,  pt.  13,  Nathan, 
der  Sqnatter-Reofiilator,  odcr  der  crste  Amerikaner  in  Texas.) 

Parts:    14-15    Das    Kajiitcnbiich    oder    nationale    Charakteristiken. 

Parts :  16-18     Siiden  und  Norden. 
Gesamrnelte  Werke.  15  pts.  12mo.     J.  B.  Metzler,  Stuttgart,  1845-1847. 

Individual  works  appear  in  the  same  sequence  as  above  and  bear 

the  same  titles.     Siiden  und   Norden  is  lacking.) 

TRANSLATIONS    USED   IN   THIS    STUDY: 

Rambleton ;  a  Romance  of  Fashionable  Life  in  New  York  during  the 
Great  Speculation  of  1836.  Transl.  from  the  German  by  S.,  New 
York,  1846.     (Incomplete!) 

Life  in  the  New  World:  or  Sketches  of  American  Society,  by  Seats- 
field  (sic!)  Transl.  from  the  Gennan  by  Gustavus  C.  Hebbe  and 
James  Mackay,  New  York  (1844)  (It  contains:  George  Howard, 
Ralph    Doughbv,    Pflanzerleben,    pt.    I-II,    and    Nathan.) 

The   Cabin   Book.    "Transl.   by   Mersch.    New   York,    1844. 

North  and  South;  or  Scenes  and  adventures  in  ATexico.  Transl. 
from,  the  German  by  J.  T.  H.,  Winchester  (1844)    (Incomplete!) 

II  BIOGRAPHYCAL  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  MATERIAL 

GENERAL : 

Bartels,     Adolph.       Geschichte     der     deutschen      Literatur.        Leipzig. 

1905,  v.  II. 
Biese.   Alfred.        Deutsche   Literaturgcschichte,   ATiinchen,   1911,   v.   III. 
The   Cambridge   History  of   American   Literature.        New  York,   1917. 
The    Ca"Tb-idgc    Historv   of    English    Literature.        New    York,     1917. 

v.  xni,  pt.  II. 

Cross,    Wilbur    L.      The    Development    of    the    English    Novel.      New 

York,  1911. 
Erskine,    John.      Leading   American    Novelists.      New   York,    1910. 
Jung,  Alexander.     Vorlesungcn  iiber  die  moderne  Literatur  der  Deut- 
schen.    Danzig,   1842. 
Koenig,  Robert.     Deutsche  Literaturgcschichte.     Bielefeld.   1893,  v.  II. 
Kummer,    Friedrich.      Deutsche    Literaturgcschichte    des    neunzehnten 

Jahrhunderts.     Dresden,    1909. 
Kurz,   Heinrich.     Geschichte   der   deutschen    Literatur.      Leipzig,    1894, 

V.  IV. 
Laube,   Heinrich.     Moderne  Charakteristiken.     Mannheim.   1835. 
Lublinski,  S.     Literatur  und  Gesellschaft  im  neunzehnten  Jahrhundert. 

Band  III.     Das  junge  Deutschland.     BerHn,   1900. 
Menzel,  Wolfgang.     Die  deutsche  Literatur.     Stuttgart,  1828. 
(Menzel,  Wolfgang)     Die  junge  Literatur.     Literaturl)latt,   1836,  Nos. 

1-5  pp.   1-20. 
Mielke,    Hellmuth.     Der   deutsche    Roman.     Dresden,    1912. 
Mundt,  Theodor.     AUgcmeine  Literaturgcschichte.     Berlin.  1848,  v.  III. 

Geschichte   der   Literatur  der   Gegenwart,    Leipzig,   1853. 

Proelss,  Johannes.      Das  junge  Deutschland,  Stuttgart,  1892. 
Robertson,   John    G.     A    History   of    German    Literature.      New   York. 
Salzer,  Anselm.     Illustrierte  Geschichte   der  deutschen   Literatur   .  .  . 

Miinchen,   n.   d.  v.   III. 
Sauer,    August.      Literaturgcschichte    und  Volkskunde.     Rektoratsrede. 

Prag,  1907. 

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Scherr,  Johannes.     Illiistrierte  Geschichte  der  Weltlitcratiir.   Stutt^rt, 

10th  ed. 
Schmidt,    Julian.      Geschichte    der    deutschen    Literatur    von    Leibniz 

bis  aiif  iinscre  Zoit.      Berlin.  1896.  v.  V. 
Schweizer,   Viktor.      Ludolf   Wienberg.      Beitrage    zu    einer   jungdeut- 

schen  Aestetik.     Leipzig,  1898. 
Williams,  Harold.    Two  Centuries  of  the  English  Novel.    London,  1911. 

SPKCiAi, : 
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Literaturgesch.   1901,   v.   I.   pp.   228-233. 
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ican Annals.  N.  S.  v.  IX,  No  1,  pp.  31-39. 
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Washington  Univ.   Studies.   1914,   v.   I.   pt.   I.  pp.   184-226. 
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Hemispharen.     Sein  Leben-  und  seine  Werke.    Weimar,  1897. 
Charles   Sealsfield    (Carl   Postl);     Material    for  a   Biography;     a 

study    of    his    Style :    his    Influence    upon    American    Literature. 

Baltimore,   1892.     Diss. 
Charles   Sealsfield's  Place  in   Literature.        Americana   Gcrmanica. 

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Modern    Language   Association   of    America.      Baltimore,    1894,    v. 

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Hemispharen.      Review.    Americana   Germanica,    New   York,    1897, 

V.  I.  No.  III.  pp.  94-103. 
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Edinburgh  Magazine,  v.  LVII,  pp.  351-368. 
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1907,  v.  XIV,  pp.  718-724. 
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VIII,  No.  2,  pp.  82-86,  v.  IX,  pp.  3-30. 
Some    Sources    of    Sealsfield.     Modern    Philclogv.     1910,  v.  VII, 

pp.  587-592. 
The   Source  of  Chapter  I   of   Sealsfield's.     "Lebensbilder   aus   der 

westlichen     Hemisphare."       Modern     Language     Notes.      1908,    v. 

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Hemmann,   Fr.     Erinnerungen  an  Charles   Sealsfield.     Nord  und   Siid. 

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CHARLES  SEALSFIELD 

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VITA. 

The  writer  of  this  dissertation  was  born  March  6,  1893, 
in  Kisselbach,  Kreis  Simmern,  Germany.  After  attending  the 
State  Teachers'  Seminary  at  Kaiserslautern,  Rhenish  Bavaria, 
for  three  years,  he  came  to  the  United  States  at  the  age  of 
seventeen.  Upon  finishing  his  secondary  education  in  a  St. 
Louis  high  school,  he  entered  Washington  University,  St. 
Louis,  in  1912,  receiving  from  that  institution  in  1915  the 
degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.  While  holding  the  position  of 
teaching  fellow  in  German  (1915-16),  he  completed  the  work 
for  the  Master's  degree  with  Professor  Otto  Heller  of  Wash- 
ington University,  the  degree  being  conferred  in  June,  1916. 
During  the  summers  of  1914,  1915  and  1916  he  attended  the 
University  of  Wisconsin,  doing  graduate  work  under  Pro- 
fessors A.  R.  Hohlfeld,  E.  Voss  and  E.  C.  Roedder.  In  Septem- 
ber, 1916,  he  was  appointed  instructor  in  German  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Illinois,  and  in  September,  1917,  full  time  assistant; 
since  his  connection  with  the  University  of  Illinois  he  pursued 
work  towards  his  Doctor's  degree  chiefly  under  Professors 
Julius  Goebel  and  Otto  E.  Lessing.  In  April,  1918,  he  was 
inducted  into  the  Army,  serving  as  psychological  examiner 
until  his  discharge  in  January,  1919.  The  University  of  Illinois 
in  February,  1919,  granted  him  a  fellowship  in  German  which 
he  held  till  June  1920,  when  he  was  appointed  instructor  in 
German  at  the  same  institution. 


243 


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DAY  AND  TO  »  .  ^,== 


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